The Greatness of Amadeus | Envy vs Appreciation

This movie was a revelation, could not have believed before i watched it that a 3hr musical film about two composers would become one of my all time favorites

Mozart's laugh alone should be in the Hall of Fame.

That's the thing about genius. The more talented you are, the more jealous everybody else becomes of you and the more isolated you'll feel in the end.

The character of Salieri and F Murray Abrahams portrayal is so perfect, I have seen this movie so many times

I found that final scene between the two of them so fascinating because it became hard to tell how much was Salieri carrying out his scheme and how much was him genuinely feeling sorry for the state he helped to put Mozart into.

The genius of the film is that it has TWO protagonists, Salieri and Mozart, and God is the antagonist. God. Salieri cannot triumph, but he tries anyway. We know he cannot win against divinity itself, but watching him try and fail is extraordinary. His laughing while the good-hearted priest - who represents not divinity, but the priest's own limited concept of it - is bent over with his arms on his knees is an incredible scene. I remember watching this film at 12 years old. Afterwards, I was stunned. I had never had anything like this reaction to a film before, even Star Wars. I was affected for hours. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering wtf I had just seen. A 2.5 hour epic (this was the superior Theatrical Cut) set in the 18th Century about two composers, with no action, violence and little sexual content had fixated me the whole time. The film was about existence itself. The power of a truly great film, indeed.

Salieri absolutely personifies Proverbs 16:18 - “Pride goeth before a fall.” He was a gifted musician in his own right but he couldn’t appreciate it because Mozart was a genius prodigy.

The end of the play is different - not necessarily better or worse, but different. That final scene between Salieri and Mozart plays very differently, confrontational rather than collaborative. Then, we learn that old Salieri, still very bitter and envious, has been intentionally crying out that he is Mozart's assassin not out of guilt, but to spark that rumor before killing himself in order to tie his name indelibly to Mozart's. His final revenge on God. But he fails. No one believes the rumor, AND he lives, now considered a senile joke. Then comes the famous line, also the last line of the movie: Mediocrities of the world, I absolve you. The movie highlights the tragedy of the situation by having Salieri truly wracked with guilt in his old age after realizing, in the last moments of Mozart's life, what could have come of true collaboration between the two, or at least what could have been if Salieri hadn't been undermining him at every turn. The play focuses in on his envy and keeps him pathetically bitter to the end. The movie I think has the better overall story (as far as having a more specific focused theme that comes full circle) , but the play is an excellent character study of a lifelong self righteous egotist. Peter Shaffer wrote both, so it makes sense that the movie would basically be a new edit of the play.

Being a simple man is always better then being the top man. Heavy is the crown

Excellent analysis of this superb movie. The scenes highlighted here are some of my favorites of all time, across all time and all genres. Especially brilliant is the scene where the two composers are composing together... although, Mozart did all the composing, while Salieri merely did the notating, all the while urging Mozart beyond exhaustion in order to kill him, I believe.

Brilliant composer, great movie. Your description of how Salieri needs Mozart to give his life meaning reminded me of the scene in "The Dark Knight", where the Joker tells Batman that he (Joker) doesn't want Batman dead, because the two of them are necessary, and complete each other. Thanks for the thought provoking video.

The movie was fantastic, but it does Salieri dirty. "Don't become a Salieri" Good advice, just important to note that Salieri himself didn't become a Salieri and, while a bit jealous of a generational talent, generally had a lot of respect and admiration for him. Amadeus is not about Salieri and Mozart, they are cyphers to explore the human condition. Enjoyed the video, though!

one of my best cinema experiences as I saw the movie as a teenager in a theater.

One of the best movies i know for moral learning

As a Christian I always look forward to seeing such films that teaches something about the human soul. I am grateful for suggesting Amadeus

Your epilogue to this video was sublime. Thank you and God bless you.

Looking at the comments it's disappointing that so many think this movie is more documentary than fantasy. In reality Mozart was no more scatological than many in Viennese society. He was hard working and a serious minded composer that plumbed the depths of complex human emotions in his operas and over 600 compositions in his short but productive life. He was not a gibbering idiot savant as depicted in the film. Salieri was also an industrious and talented composer (listen to his concerto for flute and oboe) but not in Mozart's league...and who was? Salieri was friends with Beethoven and indeed gave him counterpoint lessons. Later in life he contracted a form of dementia and claimed he had poisoned Mozart. There is no proof of this but the myth was perpetuated by Pushkin in a play and later by Rimsky-Korsakov in an opera. But for all of its shortcomings Amadeus is miles better than the recent absurd and pretentious "Chevalier". One review even objected to calling him the 'black Mozart' and suggest Mozart was actually the 'white Chevalier'...laughably preposterous. The chevalier du St. George was by all accounts a worthy and accomplished composer but, as with Salieri, not in Mozart's league. Oh, if you see Chevalier (spoiler alert) there never was a violin 'battle' with Mozart...and St. George was not the first jazz musician. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "You could look it up."

I've heard some YouTube channels commentaries on this movie. Yours is the best.

I love this movie so much. Thank you for keeping Mozarts life alive❤

That's why I love videos about movies I don't know about