8/14/08 Review #1 - Amadeus

Disclaimer: this review may contain what some consider to be spoilers; however, nothing of the major "surprises" I have discussed is not also explored either in the theatrical trailer or in the first 10 minutes of the film itself.

(trailer)
Synopsis: this is the tale of the life and death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as told by Antonio Salieri, the court's composer at Vienna during the reign of Emperor Joseph II. Historic rumor has it that Salieri and Mozart were rivals, even enemies, and that Salieri played a crucial and deliberate part in Mozart's premature death at the age of 35. Based upon these rumors, an exquisite tale of envy, revenge, and murder is born.

Review: I enjoyed this film quite a bit but I also have a few gripes. First the good stuff! Salieri's character was very interesting. He is the classic "what you do through talent, I have sought to do through blood, sweat, and tears" character and this time he is portrayed not as the hero-type nor as the villain-type but interestingly as the hero-turned-villain-type. He is initially a fan of Mozart's and it is only because Mozart so grievously and unapologetically insults Salieri both as a professional and as a man that Salieri's admiration turns to envy.

I thought it was alarmingly brilliant that Mozart comes off as such a strong metaphor of Jesus Christ and Salieri as Lucifer. I don't remember the exact line, but at one point in the film Salieri in older years is explaining to a Catholic priest why his faith in God evaporated and why he chose to murder Mozart. He says something along the lines of, [referring to a scene where we just saw Mozart humiliate Salieri] "Don't you get it? Mozart wasn't laughing at me -- it was God. God was laughing at me. Now I ask you, why would the Lord give me such a passion for making music and then not bestow upon me the faculties needed to perform?" Salieri goes on to eloquently explain that Mozart was clearly God's chosen instrument (something along the lines of "God selected Mozart to be the instrument through which His holy message was to be spread on Earth"), and so because God a) passed over the highly-devout Salieri in favor of the sinful Mozart (a drinker, a philanderer, a vulgar-tongued child of a man), and b) toyed with Salieri by granting him the love of music without also granting him the ability to create music, that God was now dead to him. And not dead in the atheistic sense (though that was my initial impression very early on in the film) but instead in a dark, twisted Luciferian sense, a sense of a non-omnipotent being declaring God to be his enemy.

Indeed, one of the most thrilling (if dark!) aspects of the movie was Salieri's determination to destroy Mozart, literally kill him, and in so doing to destroy God's "Son", i.e. the Christ. The "Mozart as Christ" symbolism was strongest in these scenes and it really sold the movie for me. It was so goddamned eerie when Mozart told Salieri at the end (paraphrased) "you are my very best ... my only friend". So goddamn sad, because the only reason Salieri did this was for revenge; but the only reason he wanted revenge at all was because he had worshipped Mozart only to have been mocked by him when they first met. "Oh! if only Mozart had loved me then as he does now!" Salieri must have surely felt as he watched Mozart inevitably slip away. Da~amn.

So what complaints did I have? One was the lack of strong characterization. The movie rode essentially on Salieri, Mozart, and Constanze's breasts. That's right: two main characters and a whole lot of popping-out-of-the-dress cleavage was all I really got out of this movie's character roster. Emperor Joseph II, portrayed by the same actor who played Lydia's dad in Beetlejuice, was almost indistinguishable from his role in Burton's comedy-horror film. And the other actors weren't even memorable! (Except maybe the Catholic priest who kept reminding me of the Scarecrow's actor on Batman Begins ... possibly the same guy? Maybe?)

But my main complaint was it was 40 minutes too long and I can tell you exactly where and why. "Why?" answered with "Around the time Mozart's dad died, I was already asking myself 'so, are we almost done?'" "Where?" answered with "all of the opera scenes which, while few in number, lasted for over 5 minutes and had zero plot advancement and minimal, minimal, minimal character development. One could have easily shaved off a lot of dead time from this movie by:
a) scrapping those dumb non-plot advancing opera scenes
b) scrapping at least one of Mozart's later playboy/irresponsible young man scenes (we get it, we get it!)
c) shortening the scene where Mozart pleads with Joseph II for The Marriage of Figaro
d) shortening the rehearsal scenes (plural) for The Marriage of Figaro

They weren't needed and they added a good 30-40 minutes of baggage to the film. What could have easily been an enjoyable, even excellent 120-minute film sadly turned into a memorable but sometimes dull 160-minute film.

Amadeus: 4 stars out of 5.

Some helpful scenes:
Salieri first witnesses "the voice of God" in Mozart
Salieri witnesses "the voice of God" for the second time
Salieri detailing his plan to beat God at his own game (starts at 2:45, i.e. you may want to skip to this time)