Evil as a gimmick

Rating: Null/10 (5 June 2002)

I saw this movie when it first came out in 1984. It is gorgeous, except for the introduction of evil in the persona of Salieri. I was subsequently appalled to learn that this was a complete fabrication; the real Salieri was a colleague of Mozart's and was not the jealous, evil villain portrayed in the movie. That entire plot device was artistic license to artificially dramatize the story; doing so at the expense of a real person's (living or deceased) reputation is unacceptable. How much more I would have admired Peter Shaffer if he had not resorted to this gimmick and trashed a man's reputation in the process, especially a man who is no longer alive to defend himself.