Julian Farino is a patient director of actors, alert to human frailty and reluctant to judge it. We value that care, though Amadeus suggests he sometimes gives conversations more time than they need.
Fi1m perspective
In Amadeus (2025), Salieri knows enough about music to hear precisely how much better another composer is. Paul Bettany makes that knowledge hurt, and Julian Farino, directing alongside Alice Seabright, gives him time to do it. We found Salieri's predicament painful because Bettany lets us understand the jealousy rather than simply disapprove of it. Gabrielle Creevy's Constanze is worth following in her own right, too. Farino is a director we value for this attention to people, though here he sometimes lets their conversations go on too long.
His beginnings in observational documentaries help explain that habit of looking at human frailty without rushing to condemn it. The move into drama took in Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Bob & Rose (2001), before American television became a substantial part of the work. He directed the majority of the first three seasons of Entourage (2004), and later moved between the feature The Oranges (2011), the television film Marvellous (2014) and the series Giri/Haji (2019). That adaptability interests us less than his recurring concern with how people behave when they fall short.
The trouble in Amadeus is knowing when to move on. Across five episodes, the exchanges between the composers begin to repeat themselves. Morgan Kennedy's production design suits the programme's theatrical manner, but the lavish surroundings sometimes distract from the conflict. Farino and Seabright are more convincing when Bettany and Creevy have our attention without competing with the display.
Bryce Dessner contributes music, but the directors give Mozart's work too little time to affect us before the next conversation explains its importance. That is a frustrating choice from filmmakers otherwise so willing to let a scene take its time. Farino directed three of the five episodes, so neither the credit nor the blame should be his alone. Try Amadeus for Bettany and Creevy, rather than for an uninterrupted evening with Mozart.
Biography
Julian Farino is an English television and film director. Born in London, he was educated at the University of Cambridge and began his career directing documentaries for Granada Television, including One of the Girls about drag queens in Manchester and The Gift, set at Chetham's College of Music.
Farino has directed episodes of series including Sex and the City (2004), Entourage (2004–2009), Rome (2005), The Office (US, 2005), In Treatment (2008), The Newsroom (2012), Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013) and Ballers (2015–2018). His feature film credits include The Oranges (2011) and The Union (2024). In 2025 he directed three episodes of the Sky Atlantic miniseries Amadeus, on which he also served as co-creator and executive producer.
