Amadeus Analysis

This scene from Amadeus presents Salieri, having a flash back about his feelings and attitude towards the music of Amadeus Mozart. We automatically know that Salieri is having flashbacks because of the use of Mise-en-scene; the makeup used is a visual signifier that we are switching between time periods, leaving audience fully aware of the situation. When human voice is being used Diegetically, we see an old Salieri, sitting in a dark room, the use of dim lighting implies that his thoughts are dark, the costume he is wearing also implies this, as it is the same costume we see him wearing when he is having flashbacks, not only does this suggest his dark thoughts, but it also suggests that he is stuck in the past, and is still holding onto his hatred for Amadeus. Whilst Salieri is speaking, there is a shot use of non-diegetic music, suggesting that Mozart’s music is taking over Salieri’s thoughts.

The first shot we have of Mozart in Salieri’s thoughts is a Medium shot of him composing a piece, the music switches from non-diegetic to diegetic, and Salieri’s voice them becomes non-diegetic as he narrates the scene. The mid shot used to present Amadeus implies his god like presence; the shot looks up at him to connote his dominance and his power over Salieri. The background of the shot is blurred out, keeping the focus on the character, this technique is used throughout the scene so we as an audience keep focus on the presentation of main characters, and highlight the importance of there posture and facial expression, because other peoples reaction is an essential part of Salieri’s narration. Mozart is framed in-between two candles, so again the focus is centred on Mozart’s face, his whole face is lit to present Salieri’s view of Mozart’s music and how he thinks its ‘miraculous’ and this also makes us focus on what he is wearing. The contrast in costumes, implies the complete difference in character, Mozart’s costume is bright, an extravagant, suggesting his wealth and power, whereas Salieri’s is dark and plain, suggesting he is a dark character, he doesn’t have the wealth that Mozart has, even Mozart’s hair is white, and angelic, whereas Salieri’s is dark and slick back, which is the usual stereotypical view of bad characters.

The shot switches throughout the scene so we see the royals, we know there royal because the camera is a low shot, and they fill the whole frame, this shows their power and status in society as they are sat in the boxes, and they are wearing expensive clothing, the fact that the shot shifts from the royals to Salieri, is a visual signifier that the two are connected.