A Tale of Envy with Mozart

Rating: 9/10 (7 June 2012)

What made this film work for me was to use a man who is not a well known classical composer (Salieri) and to create a fictional tale of jealousy toward a musical genius (Mozart). Not only does this film works well on telling a fictional biography, but captures the hate and jealousy that Salieri had toward Mozart very well without going offtrack. You see why he hates Mozart, you see his anger and he does what he can to end his career and to take out his competition. The storyline is great as it is; telling the story using flashbacks and partially going back to the present, portraying Salieli as an old man, looking back at his life, narrating his ambition and his emotions at throughout the flashbacks.
There were a few moments that I thought were creative. One was the music; unless you have a passion for music or are a music teacher, you will be in the same situation as I am when it comes to actually reading musical sheets. However, what worked was as you see Salieri look through Mozart's music or Mozart is focused on writing his masterpiece, you hear the music that is being read or written. Instead of having the audience wonder what the score of the music was, the film plays the music so we audiences can hear the music ourselves. Another thing that was pretty creative was the mystery. At the beginning, Salieri confessed that he killed Mozart, his plot and how he killed Mozart remains a mystery until a tragedy occurs in Mozart's life. Another good thing about this film was the fact of despite having the colorful clothing and wigs, the film gave the feeling that the film was set during the time period.
The acting was pretty great in this film; really liked the actors who portrayed the characters. Tom Hulce as the childish, but musically talented Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and F. Murray Abraham as the jealous and less-known composer Antonio Salieri. The other cast members portrayed their characters well and were neither a loose end. In a way, you will feel sorry for Salieri seeing how outclass and how mediocre he is compared to Mozart. As you see Salieri and Mozart in the same room for the first time, you see the Emperor playing a piece that Salieri worked hard and diligently on. As Mozart listens to the music and talks to the Emperor, he plays the piece, without the musical sheet and improves the music as he plays it. No matter how childish and talented Mozart is and how jealous and malevolent Salieri becomes, you just can't hate these two characters. Mozart is simply just Mozart and that is his nature to have the talent and you feel only sorry for Salieri.
This film deserves to be called a classic, with a well-paced strolling about jealousy, great acting, and a fictional tale that involves a lesser-known composer against a musical genius. The film is long, but doesn't give that feeling of a long movie; actually felt shorter than the actual time length. If you like these takes of a fictional tale involving historical figures, then this film is for you.