Film Night – "Amadeus"

On Sunday 18^th January, LIFT organised another Film Night. Once again this activity was a great success marking the greatest crowd ever gathering at the Multi-Purpose Room to watch the film for the night; “Amadeus”, a 1984 drama directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Based on Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the film is based very loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the later half of the 18^th century.

The film was nominated for 53 awards and received 40, including 8 Academy Awards (including Best Picture), 4 BAFTA Awards, 4 Golden Globes and a DGA Award. In 1998 Amadeus was ranked the 53rd best American movie by the american Film Institute on its AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies list.

Unfortunately this time round due to the length of the film it was not possible to have a short discussion around the main themes of the film. As a matter of fact LIFT invites you to share a discussion on this film by sending comments to this post.

Something about the plot itself:

It is a cold winter evening and two housemen attempt to rouse their master, former glorified Viennese court composer Antonio Salieri. Being unsuccessful from their knocking, they force Salieri's bedroom door open and find him on the floor, bleeding from a knife wound to the neck. They carry him to a mental hospital, where his wound is bound up, and a priest comes to see him the next day. The priest attempts to get him to explain why he would try to take his own life and the movie flashes back. The film deals with the last few months of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's life, told in flashbacks by this old, washed-up musician named Antonio Salieri. Salieri tells of the genius, the ingenuity, and the insanity of the young musician who died mysteriously at the age of 35. Salieri's jealousy may have led him to kill the young composer, but that is something that will never be known. Amadeus is an interesting commentary that tries to fill holes in history and succeeds amazingly. By mixing fact and probable fiction, the film-makers succeeded in creating a truly remarkable motion picture that is easily one of the best of the 1980s.

'Amadeus' is a deep, thought-provoking and exceptional film. The following are some reflections and thoughts we would like to share:

What are the real intentions behind the prayers we put forward to God? Are they sincerely set to strengthen ourselves to be able to glorify Him or instead to glorify ourselves?

Are there moments in our lives, when as Salieri did, we try to be in the limelight to glorify God?

Do we sometimes ask God why it seems that He prefers others rather than us by giving them things which we wish we had? We should rather be grateful and pray to get the light to appreciate the things we have and be able to seek the good within us.

Aided with his genius, Mozart was a non-conformist musician who always took the chance to be different to the norm. His way of writing music enriched with a lot of notes and unbound from general rules in style, language and content. He was able to illuminate others to the change. Are we ready to act differently against the trends of our times? Why should we wait for the judgement of others to be fulfilled with what with do?

Salieri's father was definitely obscuring his dream. In a way although Mozart's father encouraged his son to enrich his talent, Mozart was never totally free, not even after the death of his father. Why should we leave others to destroy or hook our dreams? Why should we blame others for not being able to follow our dreams as Salieri did in many occassions?

Are we ready to be generous and love others irrespective of the circumstances as the wife of Mozart did?

Why should we concentrate our energy to seek how others compare to us rather than being grateful for what we are irrespective of what we do?

Are we ready to except the fact that there must be a time in our lives when someone more able than us takes the limelight sometimes at the expense of being forgotten in history?

The film shows us that Amadeus performed in front of two different audiences: the noble and the peasant audience. In which audience do we fit: the noble audience who is glad to keep stuck to old habits and traditions or the peasant audience who is willing to except changes and be inspired by the enlightened ones?

Although Mozart held a great talent he was never able to provide a quality life to those around him. Are we using our talents in the right way in the benefit of the others around us?

Mozart was all the time haunted by many ghosts of the past. Are we ready to revive ourselves by leaving to our backs bad experiences we went through whilst learning from our mistakes?

Prepared by Owen Casha & Anton Debono

LIFT invites you to continue the discussion on this blog by sending comments to this post and share your views about the film itself and this activity.