I recently finished watching a really old film called Amadeus. It's ironic that I'm writing a "review" about it now when the film was shot like almost 25 years ago!! It actually bagged 8 Oscars!! But hey, I only watched it 2 weekends ago. So.
Official poster for the movie.
Right. A brief synopsis of the movie. The movie is based loosely on the lives of two composers in the 18th century in Vienna, Austria. One of them of course, is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and the other is Antonio Salieri.
Now, we all know that Mozart is a musical genius, who started composing at the age of 5, (puts all the "great" musicians of our time to shame.) Salieri on the other hand, was a good composer, but nowhere near Mozart. Mozart was in a league of his own.
Salieri was a prim and proper court composer who worked hard. He loved music so much that he prayed to God for musical gifts like that of Mozart's and would in return offer his Chasity, meaning to never have sex in his lifetime.
Mozart was promiscuous, restless and a philanderer. He would be seen drinking, making merry and he flirted around with women. He was carefree and had little regard for traditions, or doing things the "proper" way. He knew he was good, but not in a boastful way, just as a matter of fact, his music was perfect and he was in a league of his own.
So you can probably guess by now, Salieri quickly became jealous of him and angry at God. He saw in Mozart, the magnificence of his music and believe that Mozart was a re carnation of God. Everyone was talking about Mozart, and even the emperor liked him. So, he hatched plots to sabotage his work and ultimately kill him.
There. The plot in a nutshell.
Can I just say that the movie, and of course the music totally blew my mind! The music (which were mostly all Mozart's) was fantastic, the costumes were beautiful and the acting was good, and the characters, were believable. I must say that this movie was totally in a league of its own!
In fact, after having watched this movie, all the previous movies I have liked before just went out of the window. They were nowhere near Amadeus in comparison. But of course, the movie theme was centered on music, particularly classical music, which is my love, so that helped.
The character of Salieri, is so like me I must say. I felt that I could relate to him, and how he feels, his frustrations, and his passion on many levels (not the plotting to kill and jealousy part of course). Some of the more memorable quotes for me were:
"All I wanted was to sing to God. He gave me that longing... and then made me mute. Why? Tell me that. If He didn't want me to praise him with music, why implant the desire? Like a lust in my body! And then deny me the talent?"
"How could I tell him (Salieri's father) what music meant to me?"
When I heard the first quote, I cried. That was EXACTLY the same thing I had said to a friend couple of weeks ago, I was voicing out my frustrations about the not-so-smooth ride in my viola lessons and the desire and love for music that won't die.
His second quote had me teared up too, cos I too, like him, had a father or rather family (and friends too), who could not and do not appreciate music, classical music, and actually finds it silly that I should have such strong feelings towards music.
So for a long long time, or rather, a large part of my life, I wasn't really able to share with others or explain to people what it meant to me, cos people just don't understand and I actually get scoffed at. It actually got to the point where I was apologetic about my taste for music.
I digress.
Anyways, I give the movie 11 out of the scale of 10. Not only the music was good (obviously), the costumes were beautiful, and the characters were so believable.
It's like Mozart, although he was so brilliant in a country and era where classical music thrives, and people appreciate it for what it is, he did not lead a live that was extraordinary.
He was so human that everyone could relate to. He was living in debts, he was haunted by his father's control over him all his life, struggled with lust, and rejection for his work too. Towards the end of his life, he actually struggled as he composed what was to be his greatest and most respected work of all time, the Requiem in D minor.
Isn't it ironic that the requiem he wrote could actually end up for his own funeral, except the fact that he didn't complete it?
Even though he was also considered a musical genius during his time, his death was nothing spectacular. He died quietly without any hoo ha and without a proper grave too. He was buried is a mass grave (this is actually true in real life, not just in the movie).
So yes, I would highly recommend this movie. As with Mozart, I believe that there will quite possibly never be another movie quite as good as this in all lifetimes and generations to come!
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