Movie Review: Amadeus (1984)

Imagine your life story as told by your worst enemy. Not a pretty picture? That's what this movie pretends to do. Amadeus is the life story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as told by his arch-nemesis, Antonio Salieri. But Salieri's rabid envy makes him more stalker fan boy than rival.

Salieri, played by F. Murray Abraham, is a prolific musician; elevated to the rank of court composer. In his prime, not you'd imagine fit to obsessive spasms of jealousy. You'd imagine wrong then. In fact Salieri's obsession over Mozart overshadows any interest in music.

What's missing here is the austere nature of Salieri's devotion to music. Celibate, self-denying he expects to be rewarded with a greater union with the holy spirit of music. The very existence of Amadeus (Tom Hulce) proves that musicians have been whoring, drugging and trashing hotel rooms since the dawn of time. That music which Salieri likens to "the voice of God" would come not to his own righteous hand but from the pen of the self-indulgent, whimsical, philandering drunkard Amadeus (a name which means loved by God) seems like a cruel cosmic joke.

Mozart's sun is rising in court as Salieri's moon wanes. This injustice seems to make Salieri insane and vengeful. The sexual repression angle is under-explored -so much so that scenes which dealt with it directly ended up on the cutting room floor because they no longer seemed to make sense.

Working hard and partying harder, affects Mozart health and Salieri comes up with a scheme worth of any threepenny Opera. He decides to murder Mozart by music. By working him to death. Literally. Disguised himself as Mozart's father, Salieri commissions a requiem mass with the proviso that the sooner Mozart finishes it, the more money he will get. Tongue in cheek here; Mozart is working on his own requiem, funeral dirge, his swan song.

Salieri bribes Mozart's maid to spy; giving him the "good news" about the maestro's decline. Salieri's plan succeeds and Mozart dies, requiem unfinished. In spite of good performances, particularly by the obsessed Abraham, so much of the plot is unbelievable that its difficult to remember its based on real events and people.

After watching the movie, Amadeus, you may wonder why they didn't name it Salieri. I guess "Rock me, Salieri" just doesn't have the same ring.

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