Amadeus (1984): Inspiration and Mediocrity

“I will speak for you, Father. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint.”

PRODUCTION AND RELEASE

Amadeus was directed by director Milos Forman, and adapted by Peter Shaffer, who adapted it from his stage play of the same name. The film was produced by Saul Zaentz and stars F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri, Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Elizabeth Berridge. Amadeus was released in 1984 to nearly universal acclaim and recognition. It was a box office success and won the Best Picture Award at the 1985 Academy Awards, along with 7 other awards while being nominated for 11. It is easy to understand why the film was so critically successful. It was a period piece filled with extravagant costumes, beautiful music and it focused on the life of one of the world’s most influential artists. If Amadeus had come out now it would be considered Oscar bait. However, certain aspects of the film elevated it above most historical dramas in the eyes of reviewers. It is often pointed out that the film’s plot and characterization is historically inaccurate. Although the filmmakers defended their decision by arguing that the story required artistic license.

PLOT SUMMARY

Amadeus is the fictionalized version of the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told through the eyes of his rival Antonio Salieri. The movie begins with a priest being called into an insane asylum to see a suicidal patient. The patient reveals himself to Antonio Salieri a former composer who bemoans the fact that no one remembers his music. The priest pushes Salieri to confess his sins and Salieri confesses that he was responsible for the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose music is recognizable throughout the world.

The story flashes back to the childhood of both Mozart and Salieri. Salieri compares their upbringings, Mozart was trained to play music from his youth while Salieri desperately struggled to be able to learn it. Salieri was dearly devoted to God and prayed to become a great composer. Salieri eventually achieves success and becomes the court composer for the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in Vienna. Mozart arrives in Vienna and Salieri is excited to meet his idol. However, he finds Mozart to be childish, lewd and irreverent. However, Salieri recognizes Mozart as a true genius while everyone else views Mozart’s music as too complex.

Mozart initially is very successful in Vienna and begins to win over the Emperor’s favor. Salieri views Mozart as God’s instrument and he fears that God has abandoned him. Mozart begins to create a family, marrying Constanze and having a child. Mozart’s overbearing father, Leopold, comes to Vienna and encourages Mozart to move back to Salzburg, expressing his displeasure with Mozart’s flippant lifestyle. Mozart refuses to leave and Leopold heads back to Salzburg.

Salieri begins to undercut Mozart’s success by using his influence in the royal court to prevent Mozart from gaining pupils and undermine performances of his operas. Mozart begins to lose the Emperor's favor and several of his operas are unsuccessful. Mozart is informed that his father has died and falls into a deep depression. Salieri, disguising himself in a costume Mozart’s father wore, commissions a requiem mass from Mozart, offering money he desperately needs. His plan is to have Mozart complete the piece, then kill him and claim the requiem as it's own. Mozart agrees, although he is shaken and begins to fall deeper into debt and alcoholism. Mozart also takes on a vaudeville style opera and the stress of writing the requiem mass and opera cause him to drink even more. On the night of the Vaudeville performance Mozart collapses. Salieri takes him home and tricks Mozart into believing that the requiem mass must be completed the next day. Mozart and Salieri begin composing the piece and Salieri learns that the childish and irreverent Mozart is truly a musical genius who works hard to compose his works.

Just as they are about to complete the requiem mass. Constanze arrives and orders Salieri to leave. Salieri argues with her until they realize that Mozart has died. The film returns to Salieri in the asylum as he finishes telling his story to the priest. Salieri bemoans the fact that God killed Mozart before they could complete the requiem mass and prevents Salieri from sharing any of Mozart’s genius. He proclaims himself the “Patron Saint of Mediocrity” and blesses the priest and the other patients while Mozart's laugh is heard.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Dual Anti-Heroes. Amadeus has several aspects that make it a strong film. From its costumes to it's music, it is overall a great film. However, what makes the film standout is its two central characters. Mozart and Salieri act as foils to one another. They on two different sides of the same theme. Mozart is a musical genius, success comes easy for him do to his upbringing. He is boorish, takes advantage of women and attends parties while Salieri works. However, he does work hard and he does succeed in revolutionizing music. In many ways the character of Salieri is very similar to Mozart, Salieri loves musics and works very hard to compose and affect the culture of Vienna. He is much more pious than Mozart and is very devoted to God while Mozart seems to ignore his religious duties.

Both men simply want to create music and gain recognition. Salieri wants to gain “immortality” through his music. While Mozart wants to be financially successful for his family and live an extravagant lifestyle. Salieri is completely forgotten while Mozart dies poor but is renowned throughout the world for his simple tunes, such as the one the priest recognized at the beginning of the film. He therefore achieves the immortality that Salieri desperately wanted. Both of their goals are fueled by a love of music, but also a selfish desire for greatness. Mozart is fueled by a desire to succeed in order to please his father, even after he has died; while Salieri believes that he his deserving of success because he has remained chaste and faithful to God. Yet in the end both men desire the admiration of the other. Salieri desperately attempts to have Mozart play his music at a masquerade party but instead is mocked by his idol. Then on his deathbed Mozart takes comfort when Salieri tells him that he loved his opera. Mozart states that he always thought Salieri loathed him and his music.

The characters in the film are portrayed as anti-heroes as most subjects of biopics should be. Real people rarely exhibit heroic qualities and are instead often selfish, envious, cowardly and self destructive. Too often the subjects of biopics are treated like saints only showing their victories and rarely focusing on their deep personal flaws.

Salieri and Mozart are two different types of anti-hero. Mozart is the flawed genius. He has so much potential yet his greatest enemy is himself. While Salieri undermines him throughout the film, in the end Mozart kills himself through his drinking and poor decision making. He constantly belittles Salieri’s music driving Salieri to strike back. He is not someone to be admired, even though we admire his music.

The Creative Process. An important part of Amadeus is how it portrays the creative process. A large part of the movie is rehearsals for operas and composing music by candlelight. A major theme of the film is the idea of genius. The film establishes Mozart as a genius from the start. His music is instantly recognizable, he began composing in his childhood and can instantly improve a composition of music.

For most of the film his genius is shrouded in mystery. The audience sees him silently composing music, the music playing in his head. Yet his process is still unknown. This drives Salieri mad as he can never reach the genius of Mozart no matter how hard he tries. Mozart seems to have some inspiration that Salieri lacks. In the end end Salieri is only able to glimpse that unreachable inspiration and genius when he helps Mozart finish the requiem. For a brief moment as Mozart is verbally composing the music Salieri understands for a brief moment and hears the same music that Mozart is hearing. It is forever out of his reach, like will be for all the other composers of his time. All of them will be forgotten while Mozart’s music lives on.

The film is commenting on the seemingly silent indifference of creativity. Certain, artists, musicians and even filmmakers will always have some unquantifiable attribute that makes them better, more inspired than others. The question is whether the real beauty of creativity is in the finished product or the struggle. To characters like this fictionalized version of Salieri believe that the finished music itself is all that matters. While a character like Ed Wood from Tim Burton’s Ed Wood (1994) believe that the beauty of creativity lies in simply attempting to create something great. At the very end of the film, Salieri accepts his place as the “patron saint of mediocrity” and accepts that he should not have fought the will of the universe.

CONCLUSION

Amadeus is a biopic that rises above most other films due to its complex themes and characterization. It can be seen as just the life and death of one of the most interesting artists in world history and also a complex examination of artistic creativity and the understanding of one’s place as an artist. The music of Mozart permeates the film which is filled with beautiful shots and lovingly recreated costumes. This is a film all potential artists, of any medium should watch.