Amadeus (1984)
F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Jeffrey Jones; Directed by Milos Forman
Antonio Salieri’s deepest desire in life was to be an instrument of God’s wonders. From early on in life he trained long and hard, eventually earning a place in the emperor’s court as a musician and composer. When he learns that the famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is coming to visit the emperor, he is excited at the prospect of meeting someone he has come to greatly admire. Salieri is mortified when he sees that Mozart is a brash, arrogant, and impertinent young man, - this talent that rivals him for God’s affections. What infuriates him even more is the fact that Mozart is clearly a musical genius, a level that Salieri knows he will never attain. As the resentful composer begins learning more about Mozart’s personal life, (a young wife, a father with high expectations, alcoholism) Salieri begins to formulate a plan that will ultimately lead the young composer to ruin. It is a plot with an end result that will make it possible for an elderly Salieri to proclaim later on in life the words; “I murdered Mozart.”
This film was great. Tom Hulce (as Mozart) and F. Murray Abraham (as Salieri) gave excellent performances. Mozart had many faults, but Mr. Hulce plays him with a delicate balance of innocence and weariness. He was a legendary composer by the time he hit his twenties, and everyone knew it. But this placed a great burden of weight on the youth to carry, and we feel genuine sympathy for the struggle he goes through to try and please everyone around him. This emotional tug-of-war would occasionally come out as a nervous laugh, which was hilarious by itself. F. Murray Abraham had quite a character to tackle because though Salieri loathed Mozart to the very core, denouncing God for giving the young man talent he thought he never deserved and using a death to destroy Mozart psychologically, Salieri still remains one of his biggest fans of the music itself. He attends every one of Mozart’s performances. He is moved to tears several times, clapping louder than the rest when the curtain falls. It is one of the most intensely passionate love/hate relationships ever known. The script was so well done. The dialogue was intelligent and served each character’s individuality very well. There was also the fascinating way the director chose to create the composing scenes. We are listening to the music as it is being created. We are inside Mozart’s head as each viola and cello comes into play at each specific point in the composition. It is a mesmerizing way to present scenes that could’ve otherwise been very hard for the audience to understand or connect with.
There were a few drawbacks to this film, the biggest one I believe to be the cinematography. While the sets and the costumes were all very lavish and beautiful, the tone and color of the scenes themselves were very washed out and bland. Colors were almost muted and the world was a sleepy kind of creamy-gray haze. The other problem for me was an inconsistency with accents. This film is set mainly in Vienna, Austria, and there are British accents, American accents, posh-American accents, and German accents (really the only one that would’ve made sense here). Elizabeth Berridge, who played Mozart’s wife, Costanze, was a talented addition to the film, but I couldn’t help feeling that she seemed to be fighting a New York accent the whole time. It took away from the authenticity of the film and kind of jolted the rhythm for me. But fortunately, these things don’t take away from the general plot.
This is another story that was originally a stage play, and another successful translation to the big screen. This film took home several Oscars, including Best Screenplay, Best Director for Milos Forman, and one for Best Picture. The script is truly the anchor here, because if you take away all of the elements of this film (talent, music, costumes, sets) when all is said and done, it is still simply a great story.
Story = A+
Originality = A
DVD Extras = N/A
Acting = A
Enjoyability = A
Visuals = C-
Overall Grade = A
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