Amadeus is a fictionalized biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart released in 1984 and directed by Milos Forman. This American film was adapted from the stage play Amadeus by Peter Shaffer. It was set up in 18 th century Vienna and portrays the rivalry between Mozart and the Italian composer Antonio Salieri. This rivalry plays out at the court of Emperor Joseph II during the latter half of that century and eventually, led to Mozart’s death in 1791. The film has been critiqued by many people due to the numerous historical mistakes, but this did not stop it from being nominated for over fifty awards and receiving 40 awards.
The film centers on the animosity between Mozart and Salieri, of which there exists no evidence by most accounts. With regards to Mozart’s letter, the film portrayed there were several attempts by Emperor Joseph’s court which was supposedly lead by Salieri to hamper Mozart’s career advancement. However, there was no evidence or clear proof that Salieri disliked Mozart and plotted against him. These ideas may have been used in the film to create suspense and excitement. An example was when the film showcased that Salieri used his power to inhibit Mozart from getting a job teaching the princess of Wurttemberg ( Zaentz & Forman , 1984) . As opposed to this, there is no indication whatsoever that Salieri’s influence caused this when he was preferred for the job over Mozart.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The performance of music in the film presents a historical discrepancy in the area of conducting. There are scenes in the show where Mozart or Salieri are conducting the orchestra. However, the set up seems comparatively modern for that period of the 1700s. The display appears to be the same as what today’s audience would expect to see in an orchestra. At the time, however, most Germans used a scroll of sheet music or bare hands to conduct. Most of the operas in Germany and Italy were also generally conducted from the keyboard.
Another matter that has raised contention over the years is the dance that was used during the third act. The film shows Count Orsini-Rosenberg tearing the scene from the music with claims that the Emperor would not allow any ballets in his theatre ( Zaentz & Forman , 1984) . There is evidence of this, but there is no real verdict that has ever surfaced showing that Emperor Joseph indeed banned ballet. There is confusion as to the source of the Count’s statement but in the end, there were hired dances, and the scene was performed. In a historical review of the film by Cathleen Myers, she states that the dance in the film is set to wrong music. She claims that Mozart had provided actual dance music for the wedding dance. This music was not actually danced to the third act march in reality.
Another discrepancy is seen in the association of Salieri with the writing of Mozart’s compositions. In one of the latter scenes of the movie, Salieri is shown frantically scribbling a part of the Requiem dictated to him by Mozart ( Zaentz & Forman , 1984) . However, in reality, a different account exists by Sophie, Constanze’s sister who was present at the time of Mozart’s demise. She stated that Sussmayr, who was Mozart’s protégé and a former Salieri’s student, was informed by Mozart on how to complete his work.
There are many historical discrepancies in the film production of Amadeus. Even though some parts of the film express elements of truth taking a look through Mozart’s letters and other evidence shows that the film exaggerated some facts and may have presented wrong information in specific scenes.
References
Zaentz , S. (Producer), & Forman , M. (Director). (1984). Amadeus [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures .
