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Amadeus

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The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang

Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the
contemporaneous composer who was deeply
jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have
murdered him.

Antonio Salieri believes that Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart's music is divine and miraculous. He
wishes he was himself as good a musician as
Mozart so that he can praise the Lord through
composing. He began his career as a devout man
who believes his success and talent as a
composer are God's rewards for his piety. He's
also content as the respected, financially well-off,
court composer of Austrian Emperor Joseph II.
But he's shocked to learn that Mozart is such a
vulgar creature, and can't understand why God
favored Mozart to be his instrument. Salieri's envy
has made him an enemy of God whose greatness
was evident in Mozart. He is ready to take revenge
against God and Mozart for his own musical
mediocrity.
—Khaled Salem

Claiming to have murdered the composer

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the 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. Salieri
uses Mozart's difficult relationship with his father
and his guilt over being a bad son to drive him
slightly mad and into a downward spiral of ill
health, leading to his death.
—garykmcd

It is the early 19th century. An old man is thrown

into an insane asylum after trying to commit
suicide. He is Antonio Salieri and in the asylum he
is visited by a priest, to whom he confesses that
he killed Mozart. He then recounts his time as
court composer to Emperor Joseph II of Austria.
Mozart appears at the court and is hired by the
Emperor to produce an opera. His genius is quite
evident. Salieri is a devout Christian man and
believes all musical talent and inspiration is given
by God. Mozart's personal life and extracurricular
activities appall Salieri. He cannot reconcile
Mozart's talent and his lifestyle and sets out to
drive him from the court. Initially his aim is to
undermine him but over time his intentions turn
deadlier.
—grantss

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a remarkably

talented young Viennese composer who
unwittingly finds a fierce rival in the disciplined
and determined Antonio Salieri. Resenting Mozart
for both his hedonistic lifestyle and his undeniable
talent, the highly religious Salieri is gradually
consumed by his jealousy and becomes obsessed
with Mozart's downfall, leading to a devious
scheme that has dire consequences for both men.
—Jwelch5742

1 more

Synopsis

The story begins in 1823 as the elderly Antonio

Salieri attempts suicide by slitting his throat while
loudly begging forgiveness for having killed
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1791. Placed in a
lunatic asylum for the action, Salieri is visited by a
young priest who seeks to take his confession.
Salieri is sullen and uninterested but eventually
warms to the priest and launches into a long
"confession" about his relationship with Mozart.

Salieri's story goes on through the night and into

the next day. He reminisces about his youth,
particularly about his devotion to God and his love
for music and how he pledges to God to remain
celibate as a sacrifice if he can somehow devote
his life to music. He describes how his father's
plans for him were to go into commerce, but
suggests that the sudden death of his father, who
choked to death during a meal, was "a miracle"
that allowed him to pursue a career in music. In
his narrative, he is suddenly an adult joining the
18th century cultural elite in Vienna, the "city of
musicians". Salieri begins his career as a devout,
God-fearing man who believes his success and
talent as a composer are God's rewards for his
piety. He is content as the court composer for
Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II.

Mozart arrives in Vienna with his patron, Count

Hieronymus von Colloredo, the Prince-Archbishop
of Salzburg. Salieri secretly observes Mozart at
the Archbishop's palace, but they are not properly
introduced. Salieri sees that offstage, Mozart is
irreverent and lewd. He also first recognizes the
immense talent displayed in the adult works of
Mozart. In 1781, when Mozart meets the Emperor,
Salieri presents Mozart with a "March of
Welcome", which he toiled to create. After hearing
the march only once, Mozart plays it from
memory, critiques it, and effortlessly improvises a
variation, transforming Salieri's "trifle" into the
"Non più andrai" march from his 1786 opera "The
Marriage of Figaro".

Salieri reels at the notion of God speaking through

the childish, snappish Mozart: nevertheless, he
regards his music as miraculous. Gradually,
Salieri's faith is shaken. He believes that God,
through Mozart's genius, is cruelly laughing at
Salieri's own musical mediocrity. Salieri's
struggles with God are intercut with scenes
showing Mozart's own trials and tribulations with
life in Vienna: pride at the initial reception of his
music; anger and disbelief over his subsequent
treatment by the Italians of the Emperor's court;
happiness with his wife Constanze and his son
Karl; and grief at the death of his father Leopold.
Mozart becomes more desperate as the family's
expenses increase and his commissions
decrease. When Salieri learns of Mozart's
financial straits, he sees his chance to avenge
himself, using "God's Beloved" (the literal meaning
of "Amadeus") as the instrument.

Salieri hatches a complex plot to gain ultimate

victory over Mozart and God. He disguises himself
in a black mask and costume similar to one he
saw Leopold wear at a party, and commissions
Mozart to write a requiem mass, giving him a
down payment and the promise of an enormous
sum upon completion. Mozart begins to write the
piece, the Requiem Mass in D minor, unaware of
the true identity of his mysterious patron and
oblivious of his murderous intentions. Glossing
over any details of how he might commit the
murder, Salieri dwells on the anticipation of the
admiration of his peers and the court, when they
applaud the magnificent Requiem, and he claims
to be the music's composer. Only Salieri and God
would know the truth that Mozart wrote his own
requiem mass, and that God could only watch
while Salieri finally receives the fame and renown
he deserves.

Mozart's financial situation worsens and the

composing demands of the Requiem and "The
Magic Flute" drive him to the point of exhaustion
as he alternates work between the two pieces.
Constanze leaves him and takes their son with
her. His health worsens and he collapses during
the premiere performance of "The Magic Flute".
Salieri takes the stricken Mozart home and
convinces him to work on the Requiem. Mozart
dictates while Salieri transcribes through the
night. When Constanze returns in the morning, she
orders Salieri to leave. Constanze locks the
manuscript away despite Salieri's objections, but
as she goes to wake her husband, Mozart has
died. The Requiem is left unfinished, and Salieri is
left powerless as Mozart's body is hauled out of
Vienna for burial in a pauper's mass grave during
a rainstorm.

The film ends as Salieri finishes recounting his

story to the visibly shaken young priest. Salieri
concludes that God killed Mozart rather than allow
Salieri to share in even an ounce of his glory, and
that he is consigned to be the "patron saint of
mediocrity". Salieri mockingly absolves the priest
of his own mediocrity and blesses his fellow
patients as he is taken away in his wheelchair. The
last sound heard before the closing credits roll is
Mozart's high-pitched laughter.

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