Dr. Waldron
English 201
November 29,2010
Amadeus
Amadeus has to be one of the greatest films of all time. Amadeus showed Mozart in way that many would have never expected to see the legendary composer. This film also gives the viewers a glimpse into eighteenth century life. We see the class struggle that Mozart faced, and the enemies he made because of his brilliance. In this film we also get to see the genius, the cockiness and confidence, the eccentric and the haunted man that Mozart was.
Mozart’s music was worthy of being played for the upper class. However Mozart would have been considered a middle class man. The upper class was uptight and polished and traditional. Mozart was a little messy and a lover of fun. Mozart was constantly changing the sound of music. Mozart was not from Italy and not even an upper class man which allowed him to step outside the box.
In Amadeus, music was playing when there was no orchestra. Soon we realize that the music that we hear was the music that was playing in the mind of Mozart. Mozart made no copies and his music was brilliant. His brilliant songs and operas shows his genius. While other composers needed to make copies and spend hours upon hours working on music, it seemed to come natural to Mozart. We see sprezzatura at work through Mozart.
Mozart was great and he knew it. We see the cocky side of Mozart and are not at all annoyed by it because we know it to be a fact. Though Mozart was a musical genius we see Mozart in the constant need of approval of his music by authority figures. Mozart’s need of approval stems from his father who constantly worked with him a young boy. Mozart’s need to make his father proud is another reason why his music was so great. His brilliance brought out the insecurity in another composer introduced in the film named Salieri. Salieri’s music was inferior compared to Mozart. Salieri had the spirit of affectation and it only grew more and more as his hatred