Amadeus Film Citique
Film Critique
Intro to Mass Media
July Term 2012
Taylor S. Haynes
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been a subject of musical, artistic, and even psychological curiosity for centuries. In the screenplay, Amadeus, Peter Shaffer not only sheds light into the charmed and mentally pained life of the composer, but also uses a great amount of artistic license to embellish details concerning events during the period. By 1984, the film was adapted from the screenplay and Shaffer oversaw the project under direction of Milos Forman. The director fashioned an experience for viewers to become familiar with historical aspects of Mozart 's life and career, but also created imagery that aided in the embellishment of the composer 's relationships. A variety of these historical events were romanticized for the sake of entertainment (Robbins).
The film begins in the setting of young Mozart 's prodigy years, depicts his continuous and dilligent adolescent training, and primarily focuses on his adult career as a highly acclaimed composer within Europe. The narrator is competing composer, Antonio Salieri. Amadeus ' plot, essentially, is Salieri 's solemn account of his constant rivalry, jealousy, and persistence to cause Mozart 's ultimate demise. The accuracy of two key relationships or events have been widely criticized within the historic, musical, and entertainment community. Most obvious is the dynamic of the relationship between Mozart and Salieri. In the film, Mozart is depicted as the bane of Salieri 's existence. Jealousy, disdain, and an eventual hunger for revenge backfires on the angst ridden musician. Salieri uses his political standing to influence the courts to contract Mozart to be resident musician, essentially working him to death (Amadeus). It is evidenced, in letters from Mozart 's memoir that Salieri did aid in getting him this position, but not out of spite or with in bad conscience. There is also a scene in which Salieri uses his position to keep Mozart
Intro to Mass Media
July Term 2012
Taylor S. Haynes
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been a subject of musical, artistic, and even psychological curiosity for centuries. In the screenplay, Amadeus, Peter Shaffer not only sheds light into the charmed and mentally pained life of the composer, but also uses a great amount of artistic license to embellish details concerning events during the period. By 1984, the film was adapted from the screenplay and Shaffer oversaw the project under direction of Milos Forman. The director fashioned an experience for viewers to become familiar with historical aspects of Mozart 's life and career, but also created imagery that aided in the embellishment of the composer 's relationships. A variety of these historical events were romanticized for the sake of entertainment (Robbins).
The film begins in the setting of young Mozart 's prodigy years, depicts his continuous and dilligent adolescent training, and primarily focuses on his adult career as a highly acclaimed composer within Europe. The narrator is competing composer, Antonio Salieri. Amadeus ' plot, essentially, is Salieri 's solemn account of his constant rivalry, jealousy, and persistence to cause Mozart 's ultimate demise. The accuracy of two key relationships or events have been widely criticized within the historic, musical, and entertainment community. Most obvious is the dynamic of the relationship between Mozart and Salieri. In the film, Mozart is depicted as the bane of Salieri 's existence. Jealousy, disdain, and an eventual hunger for revenge backfires on the angst ridden musician. Salieri uses his political standing to influence the courts to contract Mozart to be resident musician, essentially working him to death (Amadeus). It is evidenced, in letters from Mozart 's memoir that Salieri did aid in getting him this position, but not out of spite or with in bad conscience. There is also a scene in which Salieri uses his position to keep Mozart
Cited: Amadeus . Dir. Milos Foreman. Perf. Tom Hulce, F.Murray Abraham. Orion Pictures Corporation, 1984. DVD. "Amadeus (film) Information, Videos, Pictures and News." RTBot - Real Time Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2012. . "IMDb Top 250." IMDb - Movies, TV and Celebrities. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2012. . "Journal of Religion & Film: Mozart & Salieri, Cain & Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4 by Gregory Allen Robbins." UNO - University of Nebraska at Omaha. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2012. . Morson, Gary Saul. "Russian literature : The "Golden Age" of poetry -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia." Britannica Online Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2012. . Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Eric Blom, and Emily Anderson. Mozart 's letters. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1956. Print. "Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Exultate Chamber Orchestra and Choir." Exultate - Exultate Chamber Choir & Orchestra. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2012. . elfishflea. "Fact or Fiction: Historical Inaccuracies in the film 'Amadeus '." elfishflea on HubPages. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 July 2012. .