This is indeed a very well-made movie but it is based on the extremely dodgy fiction that Salieri somehow caused Mozart's death. Most of it is absolute hokum including the portrayal of Mozart. Of course he was not the heavenly boy of a legend but neither was he the character portrayed here. He was of course a highly sophisticated man of the enlightenment. Scheffer appears to have thought that because Mozart wrote crudities into his letters to friends, he was like that with everyone. A totally absurd assumption. At least the film does not go as far as the play in that regard. So while there is much to enjoy here, there is also much that is total rubbish. For example, the implication that Salieri was celibate is complete nonsense as the man was married. He was a very respected composer in his day even though his music went out of fashion. Even as his works dropped from performance, and he wrote no new operas after 1804, he still remained one of the most important and sought-after teachers of his generation, and his influence was felt in every aspect of Vienna's musical life. Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Nepomuk Hummel and Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart were among the most famous of his pupils. Not a bad legacy. Rather than being bitter rivals, Salieri and Mozart had a respectful relationship. The other point of the film which is ridiculous is the portrayal of Joseph the Emperor. He was actually a very fine amateur musician. So although it is a very entertaining movie it is rotten history and the problem I have this many people will take it as true. It is hokum.
Review of Amadeus
