Amadeus

If an Opera falls in woods does the antagonist hear it?

This film was all about the protagonist/antagonist relationship. Oddly enough, the character of Salieri is
both anti-hero and tragic protagonist. He fits the role of anti-hero in that is a leading character in a
story who, unlike a traditional hero, lacks conventional heroic qualities such as idealism, courage, and
morality. [1] He also fits the role of classical tragic protagonist as defined by Aristotle.

An Aristotelian tragic hero must possess specific characteristics:

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Flaw or error of judgment

A reversal of fortune brought about because of the hero's error in judgment.
The discovery or recognition that the reversal was brought about by the hero's own actions
Excessive Pride
The character's fate must be greater than deserved.

I contend that Salieris fatal flaw was that of pride or possibly envy, that he felt that he should be better
than Mozart, that he was somehow entitled to be better/greater than Mozart . This paranoia eventually
lands Salieri in an insane asylum, so Salieri goes from the court of the Emperor to a nut house. Id say
that qualifies as a reversal of fortune. The third one is the trickiest, it is not clear, at to me, that Salieri is
aware that he is in an insane asylum; but to the audience it is clear that that Salieri has indeed suffered a
reversal of fortune. I would argue that Salieri has some excess pride, believing that God is somehow
mocking him via Mozart. Being forgotten as a composer, lost in the shadow of Mozarts greatest and
going from the court of the Emperor to an insane asylum may be a touch on the harsh side. Whether or
not this qualifies as greater than deserved or merely just is left as an exercise to the reader. Salieri is a
classical Greek tragic protagonist QED.
Although it was not really a main focus of the film, it was pretty clear to me that the film makers thought
that Mozart had some degree of Autism Spectrum Disorder, although modern researchers have doubts
citing lack of evidence.
While it might be argued that this film was released in a weak year as far as Oscar-bait films go, it did
win 8 Oscars. Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenwriting. The other 4 were technical awards; Art
Direction, Costume Design, Sound, and makeup. Having done some research on the Oscars, I can see
why Amadeus beat out The Killing Fields in several categories.
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antihero