Essay on Critiquing Amadeus by Peter Shaffer - 679 Words

Critiquing Amadeus by Peter Shaffer I believe that there are two ways to critique Peter Shaffers Amadeus. The first, and the easiest for me, is as an artistic work only. As an artistic endeavor, Amadeus is a triumph. Particularly stunning is F. Murray Abrahams performance as the tortured Court Composer Antonio Salieri. Abraham portrays a talented yet mediocre musician who, having revered God all his life, shows us clearly that pride goeth before the fall. It is Salieris greed for fame, and pride in his own moral goodness that lead him to denounce Mozart as a fiend. When God continues to shower favor upon mozart, Salieri renounces God, and vows that he will be the instrument to thwart God. Salieris†¦show more content†¦It is true that Peter Shaffer himself calls it a fantasia based on fact. It is not a screen biography of Mozart, and was never intended to be. The argument, of course, is to say that this film gave many people that first real exposure to Mozart, and as a result, gave them untruths upon which to base their knowledge. That is to say, to the everyday person who knows nothing of Mozart, there is no reason to think the events described in Amadeus are anything but the truth. Why perpetuate rumors and myths, when the truth is available? I choose not to enter into this argument. There are valid points to be made on either side. I will, however, point out some of the more glaring mistakes: * While the movie shows the dying Mozart dictating his Requiem to Salieri, it actually was his pupil and assistant Sà ¼ssmayr who helped him with it and finally completed the score. The existence of Sà ¼ssmayr, as well as that of Lorenzo da Pointe, is nowhere mentioned in the movie, though they each played a far more critical role in Mozarts life than many of the characters who are shown in the film. * Constanze Mozart may have been prone to spending time at the spa in Baden, but she hever packed up and ran out on her husband, as she is made to do in the movie. Nor did she ever throw Mozarts father out of the house. * The Mozarts had two surviving children, not one as depicted in the