Though I am a die-hard Mozart fan, I can laugh at tongue-in-cheek references to Amadeus in other movies. Read the title of the song-Countess, forgive me!), but these are minor offenses. the count in The Marriage of Figaro sings "Contessa perdono" AFTER he learns that the woman dressed in the maid's clothes is his own wife. The movie might give some viewers who don't know much about Mozart a wrong impression that he was a cad, and it gives incorrect information on some of his music (e.g. Before I leave this earth, I will laugh at you." But as he is wheeled out of his room by an aide at the asylum, what we hear is that screeching laugh of Mozart-or is it? It becomes obvious as we watch that this movie is called Amadeus because that's what Salieri wished to be-God's beloved. At one point, he declares, "One day, I will laugh at you. Though Salieri speaks in front of a Catholic priest, he is actually having a one-sided discourse with God. If you have read Shaffer's original play, you probably remember he describes Mozart's laugh 'grating.' In the film, this annoying laugh becomes more symbolic. Needless to say, his view is rather slanted. In other words, the movie viewers are seeing Mozart through Salieri's eyes. I'm often surprised to find that people don't get that Amadeus is the story of the fictionalized character, Antonio Salieri, not the real one, who adored Mozart's music but hated everything else about him. Shaffer clearly understands the difference between stage and film the story is more elaborate in the movie, and some of the lengthy lines are replaced with more subtle images and close-ups. Have you ever seen a movie based on your favorite book and come out of the movie theater rather disappointed though the film version faithfully followed the storyline of the book? Amadeus is definitely not one of those movies. That being said, Peter Shaffer's movie adaptation of his own play is still an astounding achievement. So, the rumor that Salieri killed Mozart has been around for almost a couple of centuries though we all know there isn't an iota of veracity in it. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a short opera called "Mozart and Salieri" with the bare bones of the story and the identical characterization of the two composers, and he used Pushkin's drama for the libretto. Secondly, the plot of Amadeus is not exactly original. First of all, Mozart died at home surrounded by his family, pupil and a priest. I'd like to point out a few facts before I review the movie.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |