“Amadeus” opened nationwide on this date 40 years ago.

Milos Forman’s film of Peter Shaffer’s play is that rarest of animals: popular entertainment set in the world of classical music that doesn’t talk down to the audience and actually for the most part gets it right.

By this I do not mean the historical facts, with which the creators play fast and loose (to the best of our knowledge, Salieri did NOT plot Mozart’s death, and in fact got along with him as well as any rival possibly could), but rather the broader truths underlying the all-too-human dilemmas that face the film’s “antagonist,” with whom every one of us can relate.

Why does this jerk I work with get all the recognition? What does this idiot have that I don’t? What is the source of genius? Why does it so seldom match up with personal ambition? How can a spark of the divine exist in this… creature? What is the nature of creativity? Why is talent so random? What do I do with these feelings of resentment? How does jealousy corrupt?

Furthermore, the film is a hell of a lot of fun, with plenty of broad, crowd-pleasing moments – the emperor is a boob, the court musicians ludicrous schemers, and the artists flagrant bohemians who swill from wine bottles as they stride the colorful streets of Vienna (really Prague), shop for fright wigs, and have very silly laughs – without ever teetering over into farce.

Critics AND audiences lapped it up, and the film was decorated with eight Academy Awards, including those for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay (for Shaffer), and Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham in the performance of his career).

Avoid the director’s cut, except as a curiosity or “bonus feature.” It was assembled too long after the fact and changes the tone of the picture, expanding the running time by 20 minutes and hardening the original PG rating to an R. A new 4K UHD Blu-Ray of the theatrical cut is imminent, if it’s not out already.

Sadly, they just don’t make ‘em like this anymore. Happy 40th, “Amadeus.”