Amadeus (1984)

 I’d never seen Amadeus despite its Oscar heavy reputation and wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s definitely not an accurate historical drama as a lot of the story is either heightened, changed or invented yet it is still an intriguing film. Director Milos Forman and scriptwriter Peter Shaffer, adapting his own acclaimed play present Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart not as some stuffy relic but as a pop star of his day complete with bad behaviour, bold dress sense and a refusal to conform. Yet he’s also brilliant, rustling up an opera in a few days and delivering a prodigious amount of music in a short time. 

That bit is all true. Like a pop star he burned out and died in his mid -thirties but anyone seeking a wholly true account of his life can look elsewhere. The film is as much interested in Salieri, his less flamboyant, dour rival whose admiration for the newcomer’s skills sour when the latter becomes more popular and he cannot fathom how or why God is allowing it. In his own way Salieri does his best to sabotage the younger man’s career despite being unable to resist the quality of the music Mozart is producing.

 In this film Antonio Salieri, court composer to the Emperor, is seen as a serious, God fearing man who believes that if he lives a pure life, dedicated to his craft, the almighty will reward him by enabling him to make great music. Mozart on the other hand is cavalier with his talent as he is invited to compose at court. When Salieri’s work seems to pale in comparison to Mozart’s the former blames God but has his own obsession with the rivalry curdled his abilities? Mozart never seems to suspect what is going on seeing Salieri as a friend and ultimately a collaborator. Though the narrative changed from it’s stage version there is still an element of that in this film which contains mostly dialogue heavy scenes though now supported by extracts from some of the composer’s works. These are given ambitious staging just about commensurate with the time period if occasionally looking a little too modern. Not that Amadeus is too concerned with accuracy, more in charting the two distinctly different composers.

The two stars F Murray Abraham who plays Salieri and Tom Hulce (Mozart) were both nominated for a Best Actor Oscar with the former winning though it must have been close and given the nature of the movie perhaps a joint award would have been appropriate? Both give broad readings of roles that require extravagance and  have something of the operatic about them, appropriate given the prominence of the music in the film.

Tom Hulce’s performance appears to be the showier as he cavorts about being loud and having a strange childish laugh.  He successfully conveys the charisma of a troubled genius. More than anything we see his early sheer joy at the music he is creating yet his iconoclastic rule breaking eventually causes paranoia and doubt.  F Murray Abraham‘s Salieri is mostly cold and often unlikeable yet contrasting his behaviour with his reminiscences as an old man really demonstrates the extent of the actor’s range. Its one of those performances that remains in the memory long after the detail has faded; burning, intense and perpetually contained yet straining at the leash

Yet this is a production were everyone gives good value. Amongst the roll call is Elizabeth Berridge as Mozart’s wife Constanze and seems to laze about in bed most of the time and hires a maid rather than clean up yet also gives sage career advice to her wayward husband when needed. Jeffery Jones’ Emperor is wonderfully succinct never raising his voice and completing his decisions with “there we are.”   

The film certainly has an unusual opening as we are witness to the much older Salieri making a suicide attempt. Eventually it seems he has tried to kill himself full of guilt over his claim that he murdered Mozart. He is carted away to an asylum (quite a terrifying one actually) where his confession to a priest forms the backbone of the film.

It’s a bold story yet unfurls with care over nearly three hours never seeming indulgent. Its full of fascinating character detail from the way the two servants try to tempt him with ice cream and nearly end up eating the lot, to the different reactions of the priest taking Salieri’s confession’- in the end he falls asleep. Every character from major to minor fizzes with life from the outwardly strict but easily persuaded Emperor to Salieri’s servant who lingers at doors and yet seems bored with his job. There are the astonished looks of the court officials as they take in Mozart’s appearance- he does rock up like Elton John at times. The most detail is the music itself, not just an accompaniment but like another character. I’m no Mozart expect (Mozartisan?) but there are moments that take you breath away as music and acting combine like the very best opera you’ve seen.

The throughline of the stories hinges on Salieri’s own estimation of his worth as compared with Mozart. Salieri is a good composer- he is in fact the court composer- yet not a great one. Early on the priest hearing his confession cannot identify several pieces he plays of his own yet as soon as he slips in one from Mozart, the other man recognises it. Salieri’s face falls for a moment and there is the core of the film. However much Salieri believes in his own abilities, he also recognises the greatness of Mozart’s music and that his own cannot match it.  At first he helps the younger man but as he greets each of the latter’s accomplishments with thin smiles and polite applause we know he is seething inside. How can this upstart be deemed better than him- yet he knows its true. He believes God has abandoned him and now speaks through Mozart so he takes steps to scupper the latter’s burgeoning career. These feelings eat away at Salieri yet the remarkable thing is how Abraham’s performance is able to show this while maintaining the character’s public composure with his acting.

Its no wonder Salieri has ended up so bitter and deranged when we meet him at the start. It feels like these themes are even more prescient forty one years on from the film’s release when anyone can send content into the world and trends are constantly shifting. How many people secretly yearn for the attention that a select few gain often through stunning work that we cannot rival. Being an artist in any field and knowing you can never reach the heights of that field must be one of the most frustrating feelings. Thankfully most people do not deal with that as Salieri does here.

After such an arresting opening there is a risk the rest of the movie may fall away yet it never does even though I saw the longer Director’s Cut. Its difficult to see what material could have been cut really. The visual approach is mostly eighteenth century yet in a slightly exaggerated manner though thankfully Forman resisted trying any Eighties visual stamps. In fact it seems timeless.

One bold decision was to allow the actors to use their American accents which goes a long way to freeing the film from being too buttoned up a drama. It’s still a full on period drama just with sightly mad edges.  The music choices underline the classical theme- when we see either Mozart or anyone else conducting the camera is directly in front of them with the grandeur of the packed opera house unfolding behind. When Salieri comes up with a scheme to commission a work from Mozart in disguise, he uses the same strange mask Mozart’s now deceased father once used which terrifies the composer. Just as latter is in a dialogue with God, so Mozart is still trying to impress his late father.

Years back I remember hearing that the film posits the ideas that Salieri murdered Mozart and that opening scene plays into the idea. At the end its left indistinct. The two are certainly together working on a new opera the day and night before he dies but we’ve seen enough scenes of Mozart’s deteriorating health (he swigs constantly from wine bottles and works endlessly) to know he was likely not long for this world. It looks as if what is being suggested is Salieri’s admission is not of literal homicide, rather his machinations led to Mozart’s physical decline hastening his death.

As far as we know, none of this part of the story happened and historians maintain that the two composers enjoyed a cordial enough friendship. However that would not make a very interesting drama!