Amadeus, 1984
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This study will compare and contrast the life of eighteenth- century composer Amadeus Mozart with that of his rival Antonio Salieri, using the 1984 film Amadeus as the basis for the comparison. The historical accuracy of the film with respect to the two composers will be analyzed, as will be the theme of man in relation to God which the film addresses and which reflects on the questions and changes brought to society and thinking during the Enlightenment. The arguments of the study will be that (1) the film is fairly accurate, although it exaggerates and oversimplifies for dramatic purposes, and appears to take greatest license in the area which is central to the film--the relationship between Mozart and Salieri; (2) the relationships of both Mozart and Salieri to life, music and creativity shed much light on the questions raised by the Enlightenment with respect to the relationship between God and man, although at times that light is confusing and contradictory. The genius Mozart and the frustrated Salieri, and their turbulent relationship are the centerpieces of the film, but the setting of Vienna itself at the hectic end of the eighteenth century is also a character. It is an era of great creative turbulence but one which nevertheless did not take easily to Mozart's brilliant compositions. The talented but conventional and limited Salieri, on the other hand, was favored by those with the power to elevate artists to heights of fame. The film delves into this struggle of M
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oes on to declare that "its largest factual flaw is its portrayal of the relationship between Mozart and Salieri" (Henscheid). The problem, again, is that this falsely portrayed relationship is the essence of the film.
The creative, artistic character, especially in its extraordinary or genius form, is complex and contradictory. In order to create a more dramatic and perhaps more simple story, author Peter Shaffer and director Milos Forman chose to emphasize the wilder aspects of Mozart and the more controlled aspects of Salieri. The complexities of both men, apparent in more historically-based accounts, is forfeited to the drama of this exaggerated and simplified contrast. The choice produced an exciting and popular film (which is amazing itself for the life of two classical composers dead two hundred years), but an inaccurate historical portrait of those men. Perhaps the most intriguing statement this reader discovered during this study, with respect to the conflicts between the more Romantic Mozart and the more Enlightenment-oriented Salieri is that "In every poet there is both a Mozart and a Salieri" (Mandelstam 18). In other words, the film's portrayal of the two composers as being so completely foreign to one another is to
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2815
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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