"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."

Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?" And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David." 1 Samuel 18: 7b-9

 

"My plan was so simple. It terrified me. First I must get the death mass and then, I must achieve his death". —Salieri

Amadeus is a film that I had absolutely no familiarity with before it came into my hands for review. The actors are unfamiliar, the characters are not in my realm of experience, and I don't quite grasp the art of classical music. Even the producer and director were names I only vaguely knew of. And yet Amadeus is a film of high accolade. Winner of 8 Academy Awards in 1984 including Best Picture, this film is grand on every level and I'm glad to have experienced it.

As I've already stated, this was not my genre of choice. I normally tune out when period costumes are donned, and pomp and circumstance are pumped in front of the camera. But here with Amadeus I got it. I was pulled in. I saw this film as one part Saul's jealousy of David from the Bible, one part period biopic, and one part rock star antics.

Director Milos Forman worked with Peter Schaffer, who wrote the original play, to make a film with three major characters: Mozart, Salieri, and the music. The narrator is Salieri, a court musician in Eighteenth Century Vienna. Through Salieri, we see the antics and divine inspiration of Mozart. We also see his desperate jealousy and consuming hatred, which results in the eventual insanity of Salieri and possibly death of Mozart himself.

Biopics are challenging because human beings' entire lives are not interesting. But by selecting moments, vignettes, and relationships, a writer and director can craft a very particular story. Again, I know next to nothing of the historical Mozart. But here, Forman has crafted a biblical tale of the consuming power of jealousy and hatred on par with the downfall of King Saul. The twist added is that Mozart is no King David. At every turn the pious Salieri is disgusted by the bawdy and vulgar Mozart, but at every turn it is Mozart who speaks the language of God through incredible music. Salieri's inadequacy and jealousy consume him.

The film details Salieri's plan to anonymously pay Mozart to craft a funeral piece, kill the young man, and claim the funeral piece as his own work while debuting the piece at Mozart's own funeral! Salieri is unsure of his ability to actually kill Mozart, but he begins his plan nonetheless. Foreman and Schaffer make sure to allow a little ambiguity in the end. But a sick Mozart completes his own funeral music and we see that maybe some of God's purity is to be found in him. And while Salieri gets to outlive his rival, some sense of contrition can be found in him. Poetically, Salieri allows his jealousy and rage to overpower his contrition, and he turns all of his displaced anger onto God himself, and his downfall is complete.

The Blu-ray of this film contains the Director's Cut of Amadeus, which is quite lengthy. But Amadeus deserves the accolades it received. And this Blu-ray honors the film by pulling out all the stops. The packaging alone shows the studio's feeling towards their film: It is bound like a hard-back book. The film and special features are all on one disc. But a digital copy of the film is included, and a CD of Mozart's music. Anyone who went into the film unaware of the music of Mozart will likely be interested in the CD after viewing Amadeus. I've been listening to it even as I've been writing this review! On top of a director's commentary, there is also an in-depth documentary of the making of the film which is exhaustive and well done.

Overall, this is an A-List film, given the treatment it deserves for the high definition era.