Preview

Amadeus, the Movie

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
804 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Amadeus, the Movie
Amadeus begins with an attempted suicide by composer Antonio Salieri, who is overcome with guilt about supposedly killing Mozart. His life is saved by his aids and he is sent to what looks like a mental hospital, where a priest is sent to council him. The whole story is told through the eyes of Salieri on his death bed, confessing to his priest. The whole movie takes place in Vienna, Austria. Besides the first few scenes where Mozart is seen as a child, the story begins in 1782 when Mozart is the age of 26; the story being told by Salieri takes place around 1825, near his death. Amadeus is primarily set in the noble class, and doesn’t do the best job portraying the poor side of life. For the noble’s of course living conditions are fine, constant overindulgence and pleasure. The dress is very extravagant, very colorful and very thick and layered. The primary source of entertainment shown in the movie is music, seemingly more operas than anything else. Most likely because Operas provided the most entertainment at the time; a play set to a score of music. The main character is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, played by Tom Hulce. In the movie Mozart is portrayed as a very immature, childish adult; yet unbelievably creative and talanted. Towards the end of the movie he becomes more psychotic that immature; constantly drinking and rambling about things that make no sense. He has pretty much lost all sense of sanity and his health by the time of his death. Antonio Salieri has a very major role in Amadeus, the whole story is told through his eyes. The character is played by F. Murray Abraham. He is an extremely vindictive character, throughout the whole movie he is trying to sabotage Mozart. Even on his death bed confessing his guilt, as he is telling the story he seems to lose his sense of guilt and looks back on his experience as if it were still caused by Mozart, and not of his own doing. He begins his hatred of Mozart when his wife secretly shows his some of his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Everest Book Report

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Main Character(s): The story is mostly about Dominic Alexis who is a thirteen year old boy who is determined to be youngest person to ever climb the biggest and deadliest mountain of all, Mount Everest. There are more characters in the story but it mostly talks about Dominic.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 –1791) was one of the most popular Classical Composers of the 18th century. He was born in Salzburg, Austria under the influence of a musical family. A genious from a young age Mozart excelled in his compositions. Alleluiah was written in 1713 at the age of 17. The piece is part of the famous Exsultate Jubilate motet. At the time, Mozart did not have in mind the voice of a soprano for the beautiful melody but rather the one of a castrato, a specific one, Venanzio Rauzzini; a famous Italian castrato of the time with a very agile and crystal clear voice. “Allelujah” is the culminating piece of a three movement vocal concerto that was originally scored for soprano solo, oboes, horns, organ and strings; it is preceded…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are two major differences incorporated into Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus and Shaffer’s own film of the same play. The logic for these differences is because a play can be viewed as a fantasy, whereas, a film must draw in its viewers by making the film seem as if it actually happened. The first difference is that in the play Salieri is seen confessing to the audience and during the film the scene is taken place in a mental hospital confessing to a priest. Moreover, the second major difference is music. All of the music chosen for the film was Mozart and had a certain piece to fit into each specific scene to give a more dramatic effect to its viewers. However, in the play the music was still only kept at Mozart, yet it was not as significant…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Qazwsxedcrfvt

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Salieri may have been envious of young Mozart's musical genious, however the rumors of Salieri poisoning Mozart are, in fact, simply rumors. Salieri was a respected Kapellmeister who was most notable for his contributions to opera, but stopped composing operas in 1804 before composing only church music. Salieri was friends with Haydn and gave music composition lessons to Ludwig van Beethoven.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Swing Kids

    • 2759 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The main character, a young, German man named Peter Muller, was very traumatized by what the Nazi's and Gestapo (the terrorist political police of the Nazi regime founded by Hermann Göring, whose purpose was to persecute all political opponents of the Nazi regime) did to his father. Over the course of the movie, Peter went through a change; he saw his father in a new light, and realized what really mattered in the world around him. Peter's father was a violinist and professor at the university. He spoke out against the expulsion of the Jewish professors and the entire Nazi movement. Because of this, one night, in the middle of dinner, he was taken away by the Gestapo. He was brought back home four months later, a completely different man. Before, he was lively, brave, and strong; however, after they brought him back he was a weak man, and would not ever pick up his violin again. He died shortly after he returned home. That was six years before the present setting in the movie.…

    • 2759 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), “Mozart is among the least autobiographical of composers” (Greenberg, 2011, p. 144). According to Greenberg (2011), regarding Mozart, “his music came from a source frankly divorced from issues and worries of the everyday”, the things inspired him were not from emotional events in his life expressed in his music. Deep emotional events in his life which should have inspired certain emotional expression in his art were in fact not reflected at all. What was expressed in his compositions at certain junctions in his life had no correlation to his personal turmoil or joy. According to Greenberg (2011), apparently Mozart had his finished works stored in his head all he need do is sit down and write them. There are no indications of…

    • 362 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mozart Biography Essay

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mozart, unfortunately, became very ill with a miliary fever. He had been sick for about a month and died on December 5, 1791. He was very young when he passed, about 35 years old. He died in Austria, as he was born in, but in Vienna. He had a requiem with his Roman church for his death. He died a pauper, which is a very poor person, but he got a proper burial.…

    • 457 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Well, as the name suggests, the story is about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart told by Antonio Salieri. But this movie focuses on Antonio Salieri, his jealousy towards Mozart’s ability. The movie starts of him claiming to have murdered the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the now elderly Antonio Salieri recounts to a priest his dealings with the brilliant composer. Salieri was court composer to Austrian Emperor Joseph II when Mozart and he first met. The Emperor, a major patron of the arts, immediately commissioned Mozart to write an opera in German, rather than the customary Italian. Mozart is childish, arrogant, annoying and brilliant all at once and Salieri is simultaneously in awe and green with envy at his genius. . He envied Mozart a lot. He even described Mozart’s music as divine. He wishes he was himself as good a musician as Mozart so that he can praise the Lord through composing. But he can't understand why God favored Mozart, such a vulgar creature, to be his instrument. Salieri's envy has made him an enemy of God whose greatness was evident in Mozart. Salieri has run out of options to further Mozart's ruin, so he contrives to impersonate the ghost of Mozart's father to frighten and be able to use his guilt over being a bad son to drive him slightly mad and into a downward spiral of ill health,…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The result of Mozart's discovered genius was not only the praise of hundreds across Europe during his childhood tour, but also the ever-watchful eye of Leopold Mozart, his ambitious and needy father. Because of Leopold's need to protect and constantly supervise his prized instrument, Mozart, Leopold grew dependent on his son and never ceased to remind Mozart of it. Eventually, like most child prodigies, the greater the parent's anxiety and the greater the pressure he puts on the child, the more internally resentful and conflicted the child becomes, stunting his transition into a grown man. In Leopold's letter to his wife and Mozart on September 25, 1777 from Salzburg, Leopold reminds Mozart to "ask for letters of recommendation and especially for a letter from the Bishop of Chiemsee." Leopold knows exactly how to reap profits and network through Mozart and doesn't fail to capitalize on that fact, even when Leopold is in Salzburg while Mozart is miles away on tour in Europe. After the tragic death of Maria Anna, Leopold Mozart's letter to his son on August 3, 1778 in Salzburg puts a large weight on Mozart, and even goes as far as to blame his son for Maria Anna's death. Realizing Mozart is no longer under strict scrutiny of a family member in close…

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Made in 1984, Amadeus the film focuses on Mozart’s life while representing the 18th century European Enlightenment through social class, politics and social history. Firstly, through the life of Mozart, we saw how difficult it was to survive in society. There was a complex hierarchical structure, which did not allow individuals to upgrade their social class. Therefor, even though Mozart was a brilliant and well-known artist, he lived a mediocre life and his life ended with a below average funeral. Secondly, throughout the movie, we saw how not only the Emperor Joseph II was influenced by Mozart’s music and his new cultural ideas but he also played a big role in the entertainment business. Joseph II, himself, played music and had intellect in different aspects, which can be explained by the cultural movement in Europe, Enlightenment. Mozart to compose an opera to portray the banned Marriage of Figaro play, the Emperor changed his mind about this forbidden play and allowed it in his national theater, in Vienna, because he simply wanted to depict his political empire as a culturally rich environment. Lastly, Amadeus was an excellent portrayal of the 18th century in Europe. It showed us visual aspects such as the clothing of members of different social classes or how people lived and interacted with each other. For example, Constanza was well aware of Mozart’s financial situation, which was a new ideology that women were implicated in economic matters. Also, the way Mozart acted around the King was very different from the way he was around his friends due to the fact that his musical intellect was greater then the King but out of respect he humbled himself. To conclude, Amadeus was a great depiction of the 18th century European Enlightenment in relation to cultural, political and social…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The plot is told by its main character, Second Lieutenant Frederic Henry. He is an American put in an Italian ambulance unit stationed near the battlefront with the Austrians. His friend Lieutenant Rinaldi, an Italian surgeon introduces Frederic to Catherine. She’s Rinaldi’s romantic interest, but she starts to focus more on Frederic. Frederic thinks Catherine is very and attractive and as they get closer he finds out that her fiancée died in the war. She and he go through this love game.…

    • 426 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Last Waltz

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Directed by a fan of the musicians involved in the film, The Last Waltz is considered one of the greatest musical films, if not the greatest, ever produced in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. It features the last concert given by a group of musicians who referred to themselves as “The Band”. Hence the name The Last Waltz was given to the title of the film. Besides the concert, the viewers are enlightened with the life experiences of these musicians through the interviews dispersed between the scenes of the concert. In this way, the movie is created as an informative film since the interviews inform the audience of the background information of The Band.…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death of a Salesman

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An excellent father will make every effort to constantly do what is best for his family. He will put his needs last, ensuring that his family is well cared for and not lacking for any necessities. And, most significantly, a first-class father will make his family his main concern, coming before his job, his friends, or even himself. In Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, Willy Loman is a prime example of a horrific father in every way mentioned previously. Not only is Willy Loman not a good father and spouse, but he furthers his failure by being a typical anti-hero and by failing to accomplish the American Dream. There for I believe the play is not necessarily what Miller and Kazan perceive it to be. Here I will be discussing Willy Lomans discraceful actions towards his family and finally expose the actual theme of the play.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Les Miserables

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In Les Miserables, Victor Hugo portrays human nature in a neutral state. Humans are born with neither good nor bad instincts, but rather society affects our actions and thoughts. Hugo portrays the neutral state of mind through Jean Valjean and Cosette. The two extremes of good and evil are represented through Thénardier and the bishop. Good and evil coexists in the society and affects Valjean and Cosette. It is the two extremes of good and evil that dictate the lives of Valjean and Cosette. The bishop represents charity and love. Everything he's ever had, he gave to charity. When the bishop first met Valjean, he said, "You need not tell me who you are. This is not my house; it is the house of Christ. It does not ask any comer whether he has a name, but whether he has an affliction. You are suffering; you are hungry and thirsty; be welcome. And do not thank me; do not tell me that I take you into my house..... whatever is here is yours." (pg. 15-16) The bishop didn't look at him as a convict; he looked at him as a fellow brother. Later, when the bishop found out that Valjean stole his silver, he wasn't mad, but offered all of his silver to Valjean saying, "Don't forget that you promised me to use this silver to become an honest man." Thénardier, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of the bishop. He represents the corruptive nature of society. He's the one that changes people for the bad. An example of how Thénardier represents greed and evil is how he mistreated Cosette when he was taking care of her. He made her wash and clean, while letting his kids run around and play. Thénardier took advantage of Cosette's mother, Fantine. He kept on asking her for more money, when in fact he didn't really need it. When it was cold, Thénardier told…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The first section of the exposition in the Mozart (which for the remainder of the paper the piece will be referred to “the Mozart”) is in Bb major. The first subject is split into 8 bar phrases. The first phrase acts more like an introduction to the second part of the first subject. The first two bars act like mini cadences. They go as follows: I – vii – I. This is followed by another two bars that also act like mini cadences, however, they don't set any sort of primary ideas. Their little motif ideas merely allow the composer an easier transition into repeating the first two bars. Naturally, Mozart does that by not only repeating the first two bars but also putting it down an octave. He finishes up this first phrase by bring in a new motivic idea and then setting up an rhythmic ostinato to help get into the second phrase of…

    • 1523 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays