Amadeus

The winner of 8 Academy Awards, and a genius film in it's own right, Amadeus tells a story of both fact and fiction, proof and hearsay, about the greatest composer who has ever lived.

So incredibly talented was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that nearly 300 years after his death, the world still has questions pertaining to his life, his death, and most certainly his music.

Based on Peter Shaffer's brilliant play, Amadeus gives one theory on the life of this enigmatic man-child and the friends and foes he made in his short 35 years on this planet.

Amadeus is narrated by Antonio Salieri who (according to rumor) was both immensely enamored and insanely jealous of Mozart. Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) lives and breaths music, and aspires to be a great composer. He promises God his utmost service if He would only bestow on Salieri the gift of music.

Unfortunately Salieri's talent is only mediocre, and a man by the name of Mozart seems to have been blessed by God Himself (or at least that's what Salieri believes). The film portrays Mozart as a pompous punk who doesn't compose music because he feels it's a divine gift; he composes music simply because he can.

Although this film portrays Mozart as a natural genius, the real-life Mozart was once quoted as saying this:

As the film progresses, Mozart becomes more and more infamous for his talent, while Salieri becomes more and more invisible. Although Mozart incessently mocks Salieri's work, Salieri never misses one Mozart performance. Salieri ponders Mozart's talent, as does the rest of Vienna, and Mozart simply attributes it to love. The real-life Mozart once said:



The main reason Mozart composed was for the satisfaction and happiness of others. He said:



Salieri, desperate for fame or some bit of recognition, devises a simple plan to murder Mozart. Arriving at Mozart's doorstep wearing a mask that Mozart's dead father (who still haunts Mozart) was notorious for wearing, Salieri requests that Mozart write a death requiem. Then, after Salieri has murdered Mozart, he would play the requiem and take credit for composing it.

Tragically, it doesn't take a murder to kill the great Mozart. Excessive drinking and drug use take the life of the incredibly genius composer who was buried in an unmarked paupers grave.

Although it was a tremendous loss to the music world, perhaps Mozart's death wasn't so unfortunate to Mozart himself. The real-life Mozart (again, not the Amadeus-movie depicted Mozart) once said: