Amadeus

Amadeus Figaro scene analysis

In the first scene of the Figaro finale scene in Amadeus we see a visual signifier that the old man opening the scene and the young man that the scene cuts to are linked, in this case they are the same person and we are watching a flash back. The character, Salieri is surrounded by darkness showing us that he is the antagonist of the film. Furthermore, it shows that he's a cold, detached character who is devoid of all light or positivity in his life. His costume is also dark, a connotation that he is a bad person, representing hell. A low angle shot is used when he is shot to show that he thinks of himself highly and is an extremely arrogant character. However, the camera is slowly tracking towards him reflecting his slow realisation that Mozart is better then him and he himself will soon be pushed out. 

On the other hand, Mozart is bathed in white light, including the audience who are all wearing light colours. With the forgiving music included, we get the sense that Mozart is ridding the audience of all there sins, bringing them closer to God. The placement of two candles on either side of Mozart in the shot gives the impression that he is giving a sermon, and instead of using words he's preaching music. To further suggest this, Salieri say "God was speaking through this little man" suggesting that he was doing God's work and preaching for him. A low angle shot is used when filming Mozart to show that this character is very much in control of what happening and in control of the music. The background is blurred out to highlight to the audience that we should focus on him, in addition it suggests that this character is a ego maniac and he knows he done well. The camera lingers on Mozart every time he's on screen making us mesmerised by him and to tell us that despite the scene being narrated by Salieri, Mozart is very much the focus of the scene. 

When we see the stage, a wide shot is used so that we see the whole stage and it looks brightly lit and colourful, showing that this performance and music s something special yet when we see the stage from the point of view of Salieri, the stage looks narrow and flat, showing that he is a very narrow minded person who fails to see the positives of the scene and the music. Furthermore, he is both literally and metaphorically in the dark because he is a very traditional man who doesn't understand the new way Mozart creates music and doesn't like it. In contrast, the whole audience and Mozart are bathed in light because they understand the music and appreciate it, they are enlightened.