Amadeus Scene Analysis - Rebekah Sheridan

Amadeus Analysis

The scene begins with a low angle, medium close up of Mozart starting his performance. The low angle shot gives us a sense that Mozart is important. His nemesis and rival, Salieri is said to think Mozart is a vessel of God, and this shot reinforces that assumption as it gives him a holy stance along with the chandeliers symmetrically either side of him on the shot, and one above his head gives the resemblance of a halo. In this shot, the background is out of focus further connoting that Mozart is the one of importance, and the high key lighting enhances his skill of music, and his good-hearted personality.

Mozart, in this shot is central and it looks as though he is standing at an alter, reciting prayer and again, this tries to convince us of Salieri’s assumptions that Mozart is a vessel for God.

 Mozart’s character is sinisterly contrasted with Salieri’s as where Mozart is always within high-key lighting, Salieri is hiding in the dark in low-key lighting shots, connoting that he is the darker and more miserable character of the two. The camera shots around Salieri represent his relief, as when Mozart is getting considerably better during his performance the camera tracks closer towards his character, but when he notices the emperor yawn, and he believes out of his defeat comes his rise again, the camera gets further away, representing his release of tension. Salieri is also sitting in a booth in his lonesome as he watches the performance, this connotes his bitter, childish personality as though his jealousy has caused him to sit away from the crowd in a sulk feeling sorry for himself.

 The music is the key focus in this scene, as it is loud and overwhelming but fades to old Salieri as he remembers him, this gives us an indication that Salieri remembers Mozart through his music, as we all do. It gets louder as we transit back into Salieri’s memory to Mozart’s performance.

Salieri’s voice switches from Non-Diegetic to Diegetic throughout the scene. In the present time, when there is an implication of him speaking, the voice is diegetic as we can see him on our screens. But when go back into his memory of the past, his voice-over becomes non-diegetic, this has the use of giving us a story-telling effect of Salieri's memories.

The mise-en-scene is important throughout the movie as the time-periods change so the audience needs an indication of what part of the story the film is at. In the present time, when old Salieri is speaking, the clothes he is wearing are very different to the ones he wears of a younger age, so this in itself allows the audience to know when time-setting has changed. The colour of clothes within the scene also represent the characters personality, as Salieri and his friends are wearing darker coloured clothing than the rest, suggesting they are the 'bad guys' of this story, where as Mozart is wearing brighter colours to connote his kind personality. We see many candles during the scene, this shows the audience that this time was far in the past before electricity was used, therefore setting the scene and showing the audience what time-period it is set in.