Then, as he begins to suffer, seeing his work on smaller stages the costumes become a bit more drab but give the authentic touch of the time and to Mozart’s situation. This is especially true in seeing the operas put on by Mozart, showing him first on top of the world, with lavish sets and costumes (which are as beautiful a spectacle as almost to be a film within a film), seeing the creation of these operas and the beautiful music being performed. Salieri in the mental institution, drab and depressing, befitting the life he now leads, contrasts with the brightly lit court where he is the main show. They are there to encapsulate not just the era, but also the situations of the characters. So much of this film is helped by the continued atmosphere: the location shots, sets, and the costumes are beautiful, giving us a sense of the time and palace, never distracting and never going over the top. It is done with a light touch he always offers guests some exotic piece of candy, and even as an old man the addiction has stayed with him, but this is no quirk-it shows that for one who forgoes all vices that there is still something a man desires, even a small thing like candy, and gives us a stronger feeling of his humanity, and one of the few things that gives him genuine joy. This is what makes the story feel so real to me-the personal touches that are interspersed within this story of revenge, none more so than his sugar addiction, which is shown many times throughout. However, being an honest narrator, he tells us everything so bluntly. Then we see his other face, the driven, bitter man who manipulates Mozart and others and uses his influence at court to keep Mozart down. He presents himself to others, always as this humble figure who is able to gain influence and friends among the court, and even with Mozart himself. We see him at his manipulative best after this. Salieri is then determined to bring Mozart down and find a way to make himself be as brilliant a composer. Watching him become consumed with envy and at the same time marveling at the beauty in front of him is one of the most beautiful and insightful scenes into a person’s character I have ever seen, all communicated through his face and a few voice overs. The emotion on his face-his heart wrenching with inner struggles. He looks at her as though she must be insane to even ask. Then Mozart’s wife calmly asks if it is any good. When Salieri looks at the original works Mozart has done, the music leaps off the pages at him literally hearing the music, you see the look of anguish on Salieri’s face at the beauty he has beheld. He just sees a young man telling dirty jokes and wrestling on the floor with a young woman then he hears this young man is the creator of beautiful music. When Salieri sees Mozart ( Tom Hulce) for the first time, he does not know who he is. He has given to charities, forgone all vices (except his sweet tooth), and believes, for awhile, that his deal with God has been answered.
Salieri dreams of nothing more than making beautiful music for the world. Salieri, now in a mental institution, talks with a priest and shares with him the story of his life. Also, the horror this old man has committed on himself gives us an immediate sense of the emotions at this film’s heart.
It gives us an immediate sense of the grandiose story in front of us. 25 in G minor, K 183, 1st movement it serves as the perfect accompaniment piece, with imagery of the old city of Vienna, intercut with Salieri’s visions of the past court life. Music is playing over all this from Mozart’s Symphony No. The image of the blood on his neck and the floor, the way his servants grab him, onto a cart in the street, is extremely visceral. Inside, we see that Salieri cut his own throat. Murray Abraham) is an old man in his apartment screaming out that he killed Mozart. While the film has an epic scope, with the large palaces, symphony houses, and waves of beautiful costumes, and a cast of thousands, it is, at its heart, a film about two characters: Salieri, the court composer of Vienna, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There is always a film that is the first love it really gives us that sense that film is more than images on a screen, that there can be deeper meanings, and that has been, for ten years now, the same film for me: Milos Forman‘s Amadeus. August 2nd, 2011 | POSTED BY Benjamin Rendall
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