Amadeus

Amadeus Analysis

The scene begins with a medium, foreground focused shot of Mozart in the centre of the frame. This shows that Mozart is the centre of attention as the audience is instantly drawn to him. Directly placed beside Mozart is two candles that are opposite sides of him, which connotes religion. This also draws a connection because Salieri said that God is speaking through Mozart. As the scene is the memory of Salieri's, the audience hears all his thoughts and exactly how he remembered the performance. In the scene, Salieri is presented as being hypnotised by Mozart's voice as he is very positive about him and his gift. Salieri says that he is "bitter with defeat" as he feels that Mozart is better than him, he is jealous of Mozart's voice. 

A low angled shot is used to show Salieri who is placed on a low-key lighting balcony, which portrays him as being a very dark character and makes him look more superior to Mozart, even though Mozart's performance is outstanding. Salieri is also sitting by himself, which suggests that he is a bit of a loner. As Mozart's performance goes on, the camera keeps zooming in on Salieri which creates a sense of claustophoiba and feeling trapped. The director uses this camera technique, to represent how Salieri is feeling which is miserable and defeat because if Mozart's performance wins the crowd over, Salieri will be finished. 

The setting of the scene is very theatratical, judging by the costume designs and the look of the place. Mozart is wearing a bright yellow suit with a pink wig, which shows that he is different and a more positive person than Salieiri, who is wearing a posh black suit. The costume design helps distinguish who is good and bad.

Whilst Salieri is admitting defeat, he looks shocked and hopeful when he sees the emperor yawning at the performance. Even though he likes Mozart's work, he is made up that it might not be seen again. As soon as Salieri realises that he's got another chance, the camera zooms back out to emhasie this even further. A train reaction also happens when everyone around him notices the emperor's yawn; people look up to Salieri.