Amadeus

A Movie Review

Amadeus is the incredible tragic tale of the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as his death at the hands of his opponent Antoni Salieri. The storyline, acting, and cinematography are all wonderful. The movie begins in an insane sanctuary, where Salieri has been placed. There he confesses to a priest to the murder of Mozart (Hulce). He tells the story of how he met Mozart as a child in Vienna. From the start, Salieri was jealous of Mozart because of his incredible musical talent, which Salieri is convinced by far surpasses his own talent, despite his enormous success. Salieri also becomes annoyed by Mozarts childish behavior, wondering why God would endow such a perverted young man with such incredible musical talent. Salieri vows to get even with God by killing Mozart. At first, Salieri uses his influence in the royal court to deprive Mozart of as much fame as possible. The royal court doesnt appreciate Mozarts music, complaining that it has too many notes, and Salieri backs them up, though he privately admires his music tremendously. Mozart struggles to make ends meet. Finally, shortly after Mozarts fathers death, Salieri disguises himself as the ghost of his deceased father and tells him to compose his own death requiem. Mozart obliges, but ends up dying before it is complete. "Amadeus" provides a reflective exploration of an existential and moral problem: if you are talented, if you spend years in training, if you work hard and if you are muchadmired by your peers for your achievements, how do you react when faced with true genius that easily overtakes anything you can hope to accomplish, especially when that genius takes the form of a vulgar little rascal. The movie also explores the concept of music as the voice of God, a recurrent theme in Western civilization. In the meantime we learn much about the life of Mozart and get a glimpse of aristocratic life at his time. Throughout the film I am treated to Mozart's splendid music.

Humanities
Mon 9:00-12:00

Amadeus: Movie Review

by:

Maurie Gen T. Espinosa

BS Arch 4