I didn't like the IMDB summary of this movie, so here's the Wikipedia one: "The story, set in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the 18th century, is a fictionalized biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's music is heard extensively in the soundtrack of the movie. The film follows Italian composer Antonio Salieri at the court of Emperor Joseph II, and his jealous vendetta against his younger rival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." It was the best picture of 1984 and F. Murray Abraham won best actor for playing Salieri.
So, some thoughts before I get to the plot. First is, Mozart's little giggle made me want to break things. Also, I don't really get it? I think it's a bridge too far in terms of separating him from his peers as a super-weirdo. He has PINK HAIR for sobbing out loud! He's already a weirdo! I mean-the hair is a wig, but still. No one else wears a pink wig in the movie. Also, it does seem odd to me that as a classical music nerd, I've never seen this before. It's just one of those movies I've been meaning to watch since I was like 11, and never really got around to it. But anyway, in my mind I was comparing it to Mr. Holland's Opus, which is the other great movie about a conductor. And spoiler alert, but Mr. Holland's Opus was better(sorrynotsorry). And my last thought about this movie before diving into plot is that F. Murray Abraham's prothesis was AWFUL. And also-did you know that he played a villain in Star Trek: Insurrection? I thought that was odd, because most people start at Star Trek and then go on to become 'real actors'. Not that I'm upset about it, although in Star Trek, he played a super weird baddie who also had awful face prothesis(I've thoughtfully provided photographic evidence). Maybe F. Murray Abraham got typecast after this movie? Who knows!
This is Old Salieri
And this is Ru'afo. In Star Trek, he plays this guy who is like clinging to his youth by doing gross face treatments. He's kind of a lame Voldemort, and his death, just like Voldemort's is also very gross.
So the plot! Salieri is sad because he wants to play music and his dad wants him to be able to eat and stuff when he's old, so Salieri asks God to kill his dad and God is like 'Done.' So Salieri becomes a great composer and works for the Austrian King/Emperor/whatever. Then, some hot-shot fratboy with stupid pink hair shows up and Salieri is MAD because what was the point of asking God to kill his dad if some pink-haired jerk is better than him? So, obviously, Salieri decides to burn his cross and turn his back on God and also swear to destroy/kill Mozart. As you do. And up until this point, the movie hadn't really grabbed me? I don't know-it felt a little cold or something. But the second half is where all the good stuff is. Mozart gets sick, and he's poor and he's going mad-and that was much more interesting to watch the frat boy thing. And Salieri is like =( the whole time about everything, right up until Mozart collapses during a performance-then Salieri helps him back home to write a requiem before he dies(there's a weird subplot where Salieri disguises himself as Mozart's dad to fuck with him and make him write the requiem in the first place but well. There it is I guess). And this scene-where Mozart is dictating the requiem-is by far the best in the movie. Because at this point you realize that the music that had been scoring the movie up until this point, is sort of an outpouring of Mozart's madness and he hears the music he's writing as fully formed-that's why he doesn't erase or cross anything out when he's writing. And Salieri is realizing his genius and while obviously being super jealous, seems to feel like a weird protective understanding of Mozart? So maybe the whole time if Salieri had tried to understand Mozart's genius, instead of KILLING IT WITH FIRE, things would've gone better for everyone. Their interaction in this scene is the best and it's a shame that A. the movie spent so much time on Mozart going to parties and stuff and B. they had so few scenes together. So then Mozart dies and Salieri is like ....yay? I thought it was also interesting that the movie ended on Mozart's laugh, especially as Salieri is being wheeled through the sanatorium. Maybe the movie is trying to say that all composers go batshit at some point? I don't know.
So, I guess I'd give the second half of the movie an 8/10, and the first half like 4/10. Mr. Holland's Opus by the way is a 4/4(haha-music jokes! I wanted to write that it was a C, but you know-not a C on like an A-F grading system. Jokes are hard guys) Anyway, this brings me to the women in the movie about which I had thoughts. First was, sometimes I liked his wife and sometimes I hated her, and I really couldn't decide which. It seemed like, the movie couldn't really decide what to do with her. First she's a coquette, then a blushing bride, then a put-upon housewife, then a protective hausfrau, etc. etc. She went through so many evolutions it was hard to keep up especially since she wasn't given a lot of screen time to sell all of it, and you know-wasn't the main character. She was ok though, I liked that she piped up to both Mozart's dad and also that one vaudeville guy. Then there was the housemaid played weirdly by a very young Cynthia Nixon(pre-gubernatorial run!). I don't know, the character was hella stupid and also Cynthia was not a very good actress back then. She really oversold a lot of her scenes. Like she thought she was in a huge auditorium instead of on screen. But back to her being dumb-why did Salieri even want her to spy on the Mozarts anyway? She was clearly too dumb to understand what all was going on. I guess he could've wanted it that way, except she got afraid when he would drink and be eccentric and stuff(he was not, at least in this movie painted, to be violent at all) so her reaction is kind of weird.
So there it is. Mr. Mozart's Opus.
So, some thoughts before I get to the plot. First is, Mozart's little giggle made me want to break things. Also, I don't really get it? I think it's a bridge too far in terms of separating him from his peers as a super-weirdo. He has PINK HAIR for sobbing out loud! He's already a weirdo! I mean-the hair is a wig, but still. No one else wears a pink wig in the movie. Also, it does seem odd to me that as a classical music nerd, I've never seen this before. It's just one of those movies I've been meaning to watch since I was like 11, and never really got around to it. But anyway, in my mind I was comparing it to Mr. Holland's Opus, which is the other great movie about a conductor. And spoiler alert, but Mr. Holland's Opus was better(sorrynotsorry). And my last thought about this movie before diving into plot is that F. Murray Abraham's prothesis was AWFUL. And also-did you know that he played a villain in Star Trek: Insurrection? I thought that was odd, because most people start at Star Trek and then go on to become 'real actors'. Not that I'm upset about it, although in Star Trek, he played a super weird baddie who also had awful face prothesis(I've thoughtfully provided photographic evidence). Maybe F. Murray Abraham got typecast after this movie? Who knows!
This is Old Salieri
And this is Ru'afo. In Star Trek, he plays this guy who is like clinging to his youth by doing gross face treatments. He's kind of a lame Voldemort, and his death, just like Voldemort's is also very gross.
So the plot! Salieri is sad because he wants to play music and his dad wants him to be able to eat and stuff when he's old, so Salieri asks God to kill his dad and God is like 'Done.' So Salieri becomes a great composer and works for the Austrian King/Emperor/whatever. Then, some hot-shot fratboy with stupid pink hair shows up and Salieri is MAD because what was the point of asking God to kill his dad if some pink-haired jerk is better than him? So, obviously, Salieri decides to burn his cross and turn his back on God and also swear to destroy/kill Mozart. As you do. And up until this point, the movie hadn't really grabbed me? I don't know-it felt a little cold or something. But the second half is where all the good stuff is. Mozart gets sick, and he's poor and he's going mad-and that was much more interesting to watch the frat boy thing. And Salieri is like =( the whole time about everything, right up until Mozart collapses during a performance-then Salieri helps him back home to write a requiem before he dies(there's a weird subplot where Salieri disguises himself as Mozart's dad to fuck with him and make him write the requiem in the first place but well. There it is I guess). And this scene-where Mozart is dictating the requiem-is by far the best in the movie. Because at this point you realize that the music that had been scoring the movie up until this point, is sort of an outpouring of Mozart's madness and he hears the music he's writing as fully formed-that's why he doesn't erase or cross anything out when he's writing. And Salieri is realizing his genius and while obviously being super jealous, seems to feel like a weird protective understanding of Mozart? So maybe the whole time if Salieri had tried to understand Mozart's genius, instead of KILLING IT WITH FIRE, things would've gone better for everyone. Their interaction in this scene is the best and it's a shame that A. the movie spent so much time on Mozart going to parties and stuff and B. they had so few scenes together. So then Mozart dies and Salieri is like ....yay? I thought it was also interesting that the movie ended on Mozart's laugh, especially as Salieri is being wheeled through the sanatorium. Maybe the movie is trying to say that all composers go batshit at some point? I don't know.
So, I guess I'd give the second half of the movie an 8/10, and the first half like 4/10. Mr. Holland's Opus by the way is a 4/4(haha-music jokes! I wanted to write that it was a C, but you know-not a C on like an A-F grading system. Jokes are hard guys) Anyway, this brings me to the women in the movie about which I had thoughts. First was, sometimes I liked his wife and sometimes I hated her, and I really couldn't decide which. It seemed like, the movie couldn't really decide what to do with her. First she's a coquette, then a blushing bride, then a put-upon housewife, then a protective hausfrau, etc. etc. She went through so many evolutions it was hard to keep up especially since she wasn't given a lot of screen time to sell all of it, and you know-wasn't the main character. She was ok though, I liked that she piped up to both Mozart's dad and also that one vaudeville guy. Then there was the housemaid played weirdly by a very young Cynthia Nixon(pre-gubernatorial run!). I don't know, the character was hella stupid and also Cynthia was not a very good actress back then. She really oversold a lot of her scenes. Like she thought she was in a huge auditorium instead of on screen. But back to her being dumb-why did Salieri even want her to spy on the Mozarts anyway? She was clearly too dumb to understand what all was going on. I guess he could've wanted it that way, except she got afraid when he would drink and be eccentric and stuff(he was not, at least in this movie painted, to be violent at all) so her reaction is kind of weird.
So there it is. Mr. Mozart's Opus.
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