Amadeus Music Analysis - Movie Review Example

Final Essay: Amadeus, DVD release 2002, dir. Milos Forman, sound designer Chris Newman. Introduction The film, Amadeus (Amadeus, 1984/2002) is a movie that narrates the life and work of Mozart and the professionally rivalry between him and his contemporary composer, Salieri. Last ten years of Mozart’s life is depicted in this film (Amadeus, 1984/2002). During this period, Mozart was living and working in Vienna and it was in Vienna that Salieri met Mozart and was awed by his musical genius (Amadeus, 1984/2002). The story of the film unfold through the confession of Salieri, who is seen in the beginning of the film, an ageing cripple in wheel chair, admitted to a mental asylum after he tried to commit suicide (Amadeus, 1984/2002). In his confession, Salieri describes how his professional jealousy led him to force Mozart to write his own requiem mass, which Salieri intended to steal from him and present to the world as own musical work (Amadeus, 1984/2002). Salieri also describes how the fateful turn of events lead Mozart to die, his requiem mass unfinished, along with the murderous plot of Salieri for Mozart also imcomplete (Amadeus, 1984/2002). This writer chose this film for analysis, because the music of this film is inextricably connected with the central plot and its unfolding. This kind of a film on a musical genius could not have been possibly made without incorporating his musical works into the film. Every crucial dramatic moment in the film is linked to what these two musicians were doing in the field of music. Hence this film is a rare instance where the plot and music tracks merge inseparably into each other. The film and its music It is music that generates the theme of this film, leads it to its climax and gives it a sense of purpose. The film opens with the Symphony no.25 in G Minor, K.183 composed by Mozart, as the opening credits are displayed. The calling of the name, ‘Mozart’, in the opening sequence has a timing that fits rhythmically into the accompanying musical bit (Amadeus, 1984/2002). The composer, Salieri is seen trying to commit suicide and being taken to the hospital when the symphony plays on, but not continuously- there are dramatic breaks that let the dramatic events to unfold. And after this symphony stops, there is the noises of the crowd, which reminds one of the cheering crowds inside a musical theatre after a concert. But then the visuals show that it was the noises inside a mental asylum. Here, it can be seen that the music suggests what is going to happen, prepares for the forthcoming shock, mourns the tragic events, but yet withdraws at the crucial moment as if it is least bothered. This is the pattern that music follows throughout this film. The climax of this film itself is created around the composition of a requim mass that the hero composes and the anti-hero plans to steal. Throughout the film, each and every incident is related to the presence of music in the lives of the two protagonists. In such a scenario, it is the quality and nature of music that is used in the film that imparts validity and authenticity to the theme and the story. Hence the director has mostly used the original music of Mozart and Salieri. All the sound tracks of this film were earlier composed music pieces of Mozart and Salieri except a bit of folk music from Hungary and Quando Corpus Morietur et Amen by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, from his famous composition, Stabat Mater and also in the beginning of the film, Salieri’s music was used in a slightly modified form, the changes made by the conductor (Joe, 2006, p.62). Most of the tracks were conducted by Sir Neville Marriner and performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (Joe, 2006, p.66). Music becomes a “third “main character”” in the movie (Berardinelli, 2003). Every shot and every sequence of the film is fraught with music or rhythmically timed silence (Amadeus, 1984/2002). Music is mostly diegetic in this film, that is, originating from a source within the narrative, but in some instances, it is non-diegetic as when Mozart is walking home completely drunk (Amadeus, 1984/2002). Examples for diegetic music in the film are numerous. It has been an observed fact that “diegetic music certainly has the potential to operate on a different, nested, narrative level (when characters engage with the narratives encountered upon visiting the opera or attending a concert, for example)” and in this film also, the complexity of the film demands that such nested narrative layers are made possible (Winters, 2010, p.231). This film evidently has two complex components, one, classical music and the other intriguing mental travels that the protagonists make. To link these two complex entities into a united narrative, the diegetic use of music provides a far greater number of possibilities. Even non-diegetic music has a nature of becoming diegetic in this film just because the compositions of Mozart are familiar to many viewers. For example, whenever Mozart is seen composing or performing, his own music is used (Amadeus, 1984/2002). There is also decorative and suggestive use of music in this film, though in fewer instances. For example, in the backdrop of the wedding scene of Mozart and Constanze, Mozart’s own music is played to add beauty to the scene being depicted. Similarly, when Mozart dies, the music is also suggestive of death, playing a requiem composed by Mozart himself. Many problems and limitations usually arise when preexisting music is used in a film as its sound track but in Amadeus, this is not at all the case. The creative use of preexisting music evolves into a new dynamics of its own, one which suits the mood and theme of the film here. But there has also been negative reviews saying that the film, Amadeus, handles the Music of Mozart “as trivially as every other aspect of the Mozart story” (Horowitz, 1992, p.11). The criticism was based on the point that only bits and pieces of Mozart’s music were in many scenes and hence it was alleged that the film was mutilating Mozart’s music (Horowitz, 1992, p.7-11). But there is no validity or logic inherent to this argument because when telling the story of a musical composer, it is not technically possible for a film to play the uncut full version of any composition of him/her as the sound track. A composition might be having a particular duration and a film might be having another one. Also, in the film, the whole life of the musician is depicted and hence representative samples from the musician’s work will have to be incorporated to give a general picture of what his/her music was. It has been observed that there is a Brechtian aspect to the use of music in this film as in many scenes, it is said, music is initially empathizing with the characters but mater on it turns into an alienating device (Joe, 2006, p.59). It is also noted, “diegetic noises are often musicalized” in this film (Joe, 2006, p.60). For example, the tapping of a cane, laughter and the knocking of a door often becomes a part of the musical composition (Joe, 2006, p.60). Noise thus serves as a link between the narrative and music. When pieces from three musical works are compiled as the background score of a single scene, as in the commission scene, care is taken that “all excerpts are in the same key, D minor” (Joe, 2006, p.64). This kind of musical editing has been done throughout the film without breaking the musical grammar and continuity (Joe, 2006, p.66). The amazing performance conducted by Neville Marriner and performed by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, gives the film a timeless beauty. The quality of performance is so good that the record became a popular collection of classical music. Conclusion The film, in utilizing the music of Mozart has adopted and “operatic” style (Joe, 2006, p.60). This is put as contrary to the “phantasmagoric aesthetics of Hollywood” (Joe, 2006, p.67). The classical nature of this film’s sound track imparts the narrative an added historic aura. Depicting how music becomes a source of emotion in films, Cohen (2001) has observed, “film music composition can be regarded as a type of problem-solving that exploits knowledge of the musical rules that express and create emotion through specific musical relations” (p.267). In Amadeus, this is what exactly the role of music is. Particularly, the life of a gifted musician like Mozart and the nuances of his mental and creative faculties could only be depicted in abstract terms, and his own music is the best way to arrive at this abstraction without committing any wild guesses or errors. After the death requiem, in the final scene, there is music coming back after a pause (Amadeus, 1984/2002). But the music never dominates in this film but keeps an elegant poise and always stands back to let the narrative move ahead. It is like a grand mother watching alertly the child walking her first steps, always there to lend a hand when she faces the risk of falling. There are also many silent sequences without music. But whenever a moment of human emotion or enigma unfolds music flows in as if from nowhere. The film, Amadeus, thus has given music a place that invites reverence and love. Works Cited Amadeus, 1984/DVD release date 2002, motion picture, produced by Saul Zaentz, directed by Milos Forman, distributed by Warner Brothers, USA. Berardinelli, J. 2003, Amadeus: top all-time 100, Film Review, accessed 04 July 2012, < http://www.reelviews.net/movies/a/amadeus.html>. Cohen, A.J. 2001, ‘Music as a source of emotion in film’, Music and emotion: theory and research, accessed 04 July 2012, < http://www.upei.ca/~musicog/research/docs/musicsrcemotionfilm.pdf>. Horowitz, J. 1992, Conversations with Arrau, Limelight Editions, New York. Joe, J. 2006, ‘Reconsidering Amadeus: Mozart as film music’, Changing tunes: the use of pre-existing music in film, Powrie and Stillwell, Ashgate Publishing, Farnham Surrey. Winters, B. 2010, ‘The non-diegetic fallacy: film, music and narrative space’, Music & Letters, vol.91, no.2, pp.224-244. Read More