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Amadeus
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
1984 · Directed by Miloš Forman · 160 min · Drama · History · Music · Screenplay in the scene database · 25 frames
Tagline
The Man... The Music... The Madness... The Murder... The Motion Picture.
Plot
In 1823, aged composer Antonio Salieri attempts suicide and is committed to a psychiatric hospital. He claims that he murdered Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Father Vogler, a young Catholic priest, encourages Salieri to confess his sins before God. After Vogler fails to recognize him, Salieri plays three old melodies to jog his memory. Vogler cannot recognize the first two (which Salieri wrote) but is relieved to recognize the third (Eine kleine Nachtmusik) at once. Salieri peevishly reveals that Mozart wrote it.
Salieri begins his confession by saying he grew up hearing stories about the child prodigy Mozart. In his youth, Salieri was in love with music but was forbidden by his father to study the craft. Salieri proposed that if God made him a famous musician like Mozart, he would give God his faithfulness, chastity, and diligence. Salieri's father soon dies, which he interprets as a sign that God has accepted his vow. By 1774, Salieri became court composer to Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in Vienna. However, he has enough taste to know that Emperor Joseph has no ear for music, though Salieri prides himself on the popularity of his work.
Salieri understands that Mozart is the better composer but is shocked to discover, upon their first meeting, that Mozart is obscene, immature, and dissolute. He also learns that Mozart never needs to pen a second draft of his music, implying divine inspiration. Salieri cannot fathom why God would choose a reprobate like Mozart as his earthly instrument. Salieri renounces God and vows to take revenge on him by destroying Mozart.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Peter Shaffer
- Cinematography: Miroslav Ondříček
- Edited by: Michael Chandler, Nena Danevic
- Production design: Patrizia von Brandenstein
- Produced by: Saul Zaentz
Cast
- F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri
- Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze Mozart
- Simon Callow as Emanuel Schikaneder
- Roy Dotrice as Leopold Mozart
- Christine Ebersole as Katerina Cavalieri
- Jeffrey Jones as Emperor Joseph II
- Charles Kay as Count Orsini-Rosenberg
- Kenny Baker as Parody Commendatore
- Lisbeth Bartlett as Papagena
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English, Italian, Latin, German
- Studios: The Saul Zaentz Company
- Budget: $18,000,000
- Box office: $90,007,557
- Themes: opera, composer, musician, marriage crisis, italy, talent, emperor, austria, based on true story, based on play or musical
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