Film Review: 'Amadeus' Directed by Milos Forman

Amadeus is a film by Milos Forman adapted from the play by Peter Shaffer. It is an account of the career of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from the perspective of another musical composer, Antonio Salieri. The film opens with priest who enters an asylum to grant a confessional to Salieri, who narrates the story of him and Mozart in retrospect. Mozart has been dead for years and Salieri has laid various claims to being the cause of his death. The priest questions whether Salieri actually murdered Mozart or not, and Salieri begins to tell his jealous tale of the most brilliant composer of his day. Mozart is an immature genius who is commissioned to write music for the Emperor. Salieri also composes music for the Emperor and when Salieri realizes that Mozart has been given the gift of writing music instead of him, he turns his back on God. As Salieri recounts the events that occurred through their relationship, a plan unfolds in his mind to end the life of Mozart. The rest of the movie contains a respectful and resentful competitive nature between Salieri and Mozart. As the end of the film draws nearer, the question of whether or not Salieri actually killed Mozart becomes quite prevalent. Amadeus is the winner of numerous awards, including Best Picture Academy Award in 1984.

Amadeus is a very compelling film. Not many dramatic films such as these are very engaging, but the performances, story structure and beautiful use of music and cinematography push this film to the top. The performance of Mozart by Tom Hulce is perhaps the most original performance I have ever seen exhibited on screen. His grasp of the delicate balance between eccentricity and composure of Wolfgang Mozart could not have been acted out any better than it was. F. Murray Abraham played Salieri and delivered a very impressive madman who had been tormented by God his entire life. Salieri was very easily to sympathize with and the audience can understand his frustration. The structure of the story is formatted in perhaps the best possible way. The use of flashbacks allows the audience to know that Salieri has something to do with the death of Mozart, but we don't know just what it is until the end. We are revealed characteristics of Salieri that we come to understand more through the history of his relationship with Mozart. This is the most effective way of portraying the characters of Mozart and Salieri, both through the retrospect and bias of Salieri's storytelling. This type of storytelling has been further used even today in films by the Nolan brothers (The Prestige and Memento) who were no doubt influenced by the strength of this style of storytelling. Perhaps the most powerful element of the film, however, is the application of music in the story. Not only does the music chronologically apply to the works of both Salieri and Mozart, but it also authentically reveals the emotions and tensions demonstrated in the film. One of the most effective areas this was put into play was in the scene after the death of Mozart's father when the funeral ends and the next shot we see is Mozart's opera that was influenced by his father's death; I was very moved by this scene.

Some of the few weaker aspects of this film were revealed in the very same areas as the strongest. I felt that while the use of music to appropriately convey emotions was well executed for the most part, there were no doubt times it went over the top. I thought the scene when Mozart's father comes to visit him was overplayed in regards to the music. There was far too much glorified homecoming sentiments in the scene, it could have been taken down a notch and been more effective. The fault does not lie so much in the music itself, but the fact that we as an audience are not aware that Mozart and his father share such a close bond as this. I feel two performances could have been better as well. The actors Jeffrey Jones and Elizabeth Berridge playing the Emperor and Constanze Mozart, respectively, could have been more convincing in their parts. I was not impressed by either of them entirely in their scenes. One moment that stands out in my mind would be when Constanze is angry at Mozart's father. She is furious at him and wants him to leave more than anything, but I didn't sense enough emotion for me to believe her. As for the Emperor, perhaps it is the fact that his role is kind of a joke, but he definitely did not seem to act like an Emperor in many instances.

The most memorable moment of this film would have to be the final scene of Mozart and Salieri composing together. I love the beauty and emotion and feeling put into the interaction between the two characters. Here, there are two musical geniuses plotting out one of the greatest pieces of opera to ever exist and the audience has the privilege of seeing it written. Not only do we experience it firsthand, but through usage of music and editing, we are able to gain a perspective into the minds of the two men as the music is cognitively written. We receive a glimpse of what it is like in the mind of Mozart and his mind is a masterpiece in itself, despite his flaws and shortcomings. My second favorite moments of this film are when we get to see the close ups of F. Murray Abraham telling the story of his life. He has so much emotion and the language he uses is so romantic that we have no trouble understanding exactly how he feels. This film is a masterpiece in the sense that it nearly revolutionized the way music has been used in films and pushed the limits of acting onscreen. I think of Tom Hulce's performance which was very appropriate for a stage atmosphere and he made it work on screen as well. I can't help but think that his performance had an influence on Johnny Depp's career in roles such as Captain Jack Sparrow. The music in Amadeus is very moving; as is music in many stage productions, but few make the transition to film so well. Its influence is visible in other, more recent musical films such as Chicago, Moulin Rouge, and even more dramatic films like The Aviator and Forrest Gump which use time period contemporary music to illustrate the various moods of the film. Amadeus is a stronghold of filmmaking and it deserves a lot of merit in successful stage to film transition. It is a powerful story and emotional journey through the life of some of the greatest men in history.