Analyzing Paul Zaentz's Film 'Amadeus'

The music in Forbidden Games composed by Narciso Yepes and the sound in the movie are what I believe to be the highlights that made the movie delightful. Whenever the children were about to do something daring a certain tone of music would play in the background to enhance the mise-en-scene. Certain sounds in the movie ( Non- Diegetic) would also take a big role in the movie because when being chased or hearing something that isn’t in their sight of view that sound is amplified to inform the viewers that something either bad or good is going to happen to

I was much more fond of the symphony music played by Mozart, although there was not much featured in the movie. I am not a big fan of Opera’s to begin with, so I am a little biased when judging them. I found Don Giovanni and the Opera written alongside Salieri more preferential; there was more substance and feeling in those. The opera Figaro to be extremely boring; apparently so did Joseph II. It was extremely slow with the same dark melody the whole piece. I most enjoyed the first Opera commissioned by Emperor Joseph II. The whole piece was brilliantly put together, I can’t imagine how someone could put all those notes together and make is sound like it did. It reminds me of listening to Jimi Hendrix on the guitar, or Bach on the Harpsichord.

Mozart was a prolific and most influential composer of the classical era. As a mere toddler he began to observe his sister’s lessons with their father, developing a keen ear, and showing signs of surprising comprehension. His father, Leopold, was himself a successful composer, violinist and assistant concert master of the Salzburg Court. Both Mozart and his sister were tutored by their father, a dedicated and task-oriented pedagogue. Young Mozart progressed anon, excelling even above his father’s pedagogic genius. At the verdant age of six, he performed as a child prodigy at royal courts in London, Paris, and Zurich. Mozart’s youth was spent fully engaged in touring and performance. These tours were financed through donors and patrons. Through the years, and while abroad, Mozart met many accomplished musicians such as Johann

     The music helped in elaborating this great film. As I mentioned in class different instruments helped create different moods for different scenes in the movie. We heard the cello and the violin to create sadness and remorse. The flute created eeriness and the trumpet created awareness. I thought these were instruments and tools that help make this film extraordinary.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the archetypal classical composers, along with Franz Haydn. He composed over 600 works, including choral, symphonic,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest composers ever to write music. Both men lived in the early 18th and 19th century, but their music and influences are still felt today. The men faced similar experiences, yet they both lead very different lives. All together the pieces that these men composed amounts to over 300 published, and unpublished works of art. The people of their time period often had mixed feelings about these men, some “complained that Mozart’s music presented them with too many ideas and that his melodies moved from one to the next faster than audiences could follow, yet the ideas themselves seem effortless and natural, clear and

Wolfgang’s life was profoundly impacted by the history of his time, it allowed him to compose, play and direct music and eventually live freely, ultimately setting the stage for him to create some of the best music pieces to date.

Nowadays classical music, including music from the canon, is used in a huge number of ways by people in modern culture; music is emotional underscoring, it is a field of force/perfume like an atmosphere, it is medicine, to alter your mood like a drug, it is also a key to mysteries of nature. (Robert Fink) Mostly William Tell Overture and ‘Largo al Factotum’ from Barber have primarily been used for chase/excitement sequences (Tell) or comedy (Barber). For example “The Rabbit of Seville” performed by Bugs Bunny in 1950 in the famous cartoon Looney Tunes. Other examples would be the opening sequence of Mrs. Doubtfire in 1993 and The Lone Ranger in 1948. Beethoven is ‘popular’ in pop culture and in the concert hall, for example, Fur Elise is a ‘popular’ piece. It is the soundtrack of modern life, providing a surfeit of musical wallpaper that delivers easy listening to nurseries, upscale supermarkets, doctors’ offices, cafes, and retirement homes. (Yang,

     Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s style unlike anyone else. Mozart was a master of counterpoint, fugue, and the other traditional compositional points of his day. He is also considered the best melody writer the world has ever known. Wolfgang perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera string quartet, and concerto made the classical period. “Mozart’s music is characterized by lucid ease and distinction of style....”2 Wolfgang wrote over 600 works which consisted of 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, over 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos,27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and many more. His operas range from comic baubles to tragic pieces. In his Requiem it illustrates the supreme vocal sounds in any of his work.

Mozart defied the rules, and destroyed expectations. He wrote what was never thought to exist. He turned tradition into innovation, and he destroyed all class barriers. Mozart rewrote history. Throughout this movie, Mozart broke standards time and time again.

The importance of music in movies is highly regarded for manipulating the viewer’s emotions and helping them immerse into the story. Music is one of the prime elements in cinema. Without it a movie would feel dull and unexciting. There are three elements in a movie: one is acting, the second is picture, and the third one is music. It is a holy trinity; if incomplete, there would be a lack of sensation and excitement. Both acting and picture can stand independently from one another, but music is the one that makes the movie memorable.

Through sonic, visual, and textual means, Kenneth Branagh’s The Magic Flute explores two contrasting themes: strength and weakness. Throughout the entire opera film, we witness both the afore mentioned themes from a variety of different characters, and the fate to which these attributes lead each individual. Mozart’s beautifully written music backs up this intriguing storyline, with well-placed arias, leitmotifs and an excellent score. As the story follows the adventure of Tamino and Papegano, many times we witness acts of both strength and weakness. Once Tamino has been saved from the gas by the Three Ladies, he is given the picture of Pamina along with the request to save her.

The music in Amadeus has been beyond the simple role as a background of the movie and greatly influenced the flow of the narrative in the film. The movie Amadeus arouses realism and immersion in the life of Mozart which is glorious but miserable at the same time by appropriately arranging the narrative of the film with Mozart’s great music. In other words, the soundtrack of the film composed by Mozart works as the important dramatic device to describe Mozart’s life, the main theme of the movie – ordinary people’s jealousy of genius – and the relationship between God and humans in further.

Roman Polanski — noted for being an iconic figure in the film world — is known for producing great films such as China Town, and The Pianist. Of those two, it is argued that, The Pianist is his best work. This is because this film has close ties to Polanski’s roots.

He thus rationally and intelligently composes the operas in a meditative way. Salieri works on his operas continually with many rewrites, drafts, and edits. Calling up to God, “You know how hard I’ve worked!'; (1,12) Salieri indicates his agony. This exemplifies the colossal dedication Salieri devotes in practicing this art. On the other hand, Mozart’s operas do not appeal to audiences during the age of Enlightenment. Instead, Mozart’s musicals exert offense, especially to that of the nobility, and in turn his operas are failures during this age. For example, Mozart’s score of figaro includes a ballet, that was expressly forbidden by the king. However, instead of immediately apologizing and excluding it from his opera, Mozart attempts to go around the decree. He explains that it is not an insertion of ballet, but rather it is a dance and the king does not disallow dancing when it is a portion of the story. Mozart continues opposing the Age of Enlightenment and the commands of the high society by abandoning them through language and themes of his operas. Despite the fact that the nobility will be upset, Mozart aspires to do pieces about “real people'; set in a “real place'; and in the real language of the people (2,4). He explains to Van Swieten that he wants his operas in German in order to communicate with the majority about the most exciting thing on earth, that is,