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Plot
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
There are some important differences between the screenplay and the
stage play, notably the number and treatment of scenes without
Salieri in them, the portrayal of Emperor Joseph II, Emanuel
Schikaneder, and Baron van Swieten, Mozart's relationship with the
Masons, and the finale.
Shared plot
Amadeus the theatrical production tells Mozart's story from the point
of view of the court composer Antonio Salieri, who is presented as a
caricature of jealous mediocrity. Salieri speaks directly to the
audience at many times during the play, his soliloquies serving to
move the timeline forward and back, and to narrate the goings on. In
the film, Shaffer employs an interlocutor (a young priest) for
Salieri to achieve this same function, but the film is told from a
more neutral, third-person perspective and there are more scenes
without Salieri in them (especially in the Director's Cut). Most of
the film, and much of the play, are presented in retrospective.
At the opening of the tale, Salieri has not met Mozart in person, but
has heard of him and his music. He adores Mozart's compositions, and
is thrilled at the chance to meet Mozart in person, during a salon at
which both of their compositions will be played. When he finally does
catch sight of Mozart, however, he is deeply disappointed to find
that Mozart's personality does not match the grace or charm of his
compositions: Mozart is crawling around on his hands and knees,
engaging in an immature dialogue with Constanze Weber (who would
later become his wife). As Mozart himself later explains: "I am a
vulgar man. But... my music is not."
Salieri cannot reconcile Mozart's boorish behavior with the massive
genius that God has inexplicably bestowed upon him. Indeed, Salieri,
who has been a devout Catholic all his life, cannot believe that God
would choose Mozart over him for such a gift. Salieri rejects God and
vows to do everything in his power to destroy Mozart.
Throughout much of the rest of the play and film, Salieri masquerades
as Mozart's ally to his face, while at the same time doing his utmost
to destroy his reputation and any success his compositions may have.
On more than one occasion it is only the direct intervention of the
emperor himself that allows Mozart to continue (interventions which
Salieri opposes, and then is all too happy to take credit for when
Mozart assumes it was he who intervened). Salieri also humiliates
Mozart's wife when she comes to Salieri for aid, and smears Mozart's
character with the emperor and the court. A major theme in Amadeus is
Mozart's repeated attempts to win over the aristocratic "public" with
increasingly brilliant compositions, which are always frustrated
either by Salieri or by the aristocracy's own inability to appreciate
Mozart's genius.
At this point, the film and the play diverge.
Stage play version
In the play, only Baron van Swieten (who early in the story inducts
Mozart into the Brotherhood of the Freemasons) continues to support
Mozart. Indeed, by the end of the play, Mozart is surviving solely
because of the charity of his brother Masons. Finally, Salieri
convinces Mozart (who by this time is half-crazed from frustration
and poverty) to compose an opera based on the mythos of the Masons.
As a result, Mozart produces the comedy Die Zauberfle. Van Swieten
is horrified to see that Mozart has, in his opinion, parodied the
venerated traditions of Freemasonry. He summarily removes Mozart from
the Masons. Meanwhile, Mozart's partner in the production of Die
Zauberfle, Emanuel Schikaneder, cheats Mozart out of most of his
share of the ticket proceeds.
Now thoroughly destroyed and without recourse, Mozart simply wastes
away and dies, still at work on his Requiem
Film version
In the film, however, the above does not occur. Instead, the film
uses that time to focus on Mozart's relationships with his father,
Leopold (whom he worships and fears), and his wife, which are rather
tense and erratic, respectively. As the film moves on, Mozart learns
of his father's death and composes the operatic masterpiece Don
Giovanni, in part as a tribute to him. Salieri avows that it was the
finest opera he had ever seen, yet he uses his influence to make sure
it closes after only five performances.
Following this, Salieri hatches a plan to conscript Mozart to compose
a requiem, after which Salieri will kill him and claim the
composition as his own. Even better, he reasons, he will then
perform "Salieri's Requiem" at Mozart's own funeral, thus
demonstrating to the world the inspiration that his true and devoted
friendship with Mozart had given him. Salieri dons a disguise and
anonymously commissions the composition from Mozart.
Meanwhile, Mozart's friend Emanuel Schikaneder has put on a parody of
Don Giovanni at a local music hall, which Mozart finds charming. It
has also been a great success. Schikaneder convinces Mozart to write
an opera "for the people," who will appreciate his work more than the
staid aristocrats for whom he usually composes. Mozart agrees, and
composes Die Zauberfle, all the while continuing to work on his
requiem. Zauberfle is a big success, but during the initial
performance, Mozart (who is conducting from the keyboard) falls ill
and is taken home by Salieri. There, Salieri pushes Mozart to
continue work on his requiem, despite the fact that Mozart is barely
conscious.
At this point, Schikaneder shows up at Mozart's door, and faithfully
gives Mozart's share of the opera's proceeds to Salieri, who shoos
him away. Salieri then returns to Mozart and gives him the money,
saying that it came from the man who commissioned the requiem, and
that there will be more if Mozart can finish the piece hastily.
Mozart therefore asks Salieri to assist him in completing the
composition, as he is too sick to write. Salieri transcribes what
Mozart tells to him, and the beauty of Mozart's Requiem is slowly
revealed to the audience (and Salieri himself). After some time,
Mozart pauses to thank Salieri for being such a good friend,
admitting that he had always felt, deep down, that Salieri did not
like his music. Touched in spite of himself, and apparently
regretting his initial plot, Salieri candidly replies: "I tell you,
you are the greatest composer known to me."
The next day, Mozart is dead. He is buried in an unmarked mass grave,
his Requiem still unfinished.
Reality vs. fiction
Shaffer took dramatic license in his portrayals of both Mozart and
Salieri. There is some debate as to just how much. There seems to
have been some antipathy between Mozart and Salieri, but, the idea
that Salieri was the instigator of Mozart's demise has no academic
credence. While there may have been real rivalry between Mozart and
Salieri, there is also evidence that they enjoyed a relationship
marked by mutual respect for one another's talents.
Many classical music critics and experts feel that Shaffer's
portrayal of Mozart as petulant and loutish is unfair. On the other
hand, surviving letters by and about Mozart give examples of his
brutal and sometimes profane sense of humor, his arrogance, his
stubbornness, and penchant for juvenile indulgences. Also, extant
records show Mozart was not a good money manager and suffered from
large debts, as potrayed in Amadeus. Finally, Mozart's relationship
with his father as portrayed in the film seems to be accurate,
judging from the subtext of their letters to each other.
Recent studies suggest that Mozart died of some form of rheumatic
fever (possibly aggravated by overwork and heavy drinking), and not
from any poison. A similar fate befell Felix Mendelssohn who also
demonstrated prodigal gifts for composing - and, like Mozart, did not
survive to his 40th birthday.
Salieri is portrayed in Amadeus as sexually frustrated from a vow of
celibacy that he took in childhood. In real life, he made no such
vow; he was married and the father of eight children.
Performance and filming
The 1980 Broadway performance of the play starred Ian McKellen as
Salieri and Tim Curry as Mozart. Both actors were nominated for Tony
Awards, and McKellen ended up winning. The play itself was also
nominated for costume design (John Bury), and it also won awards for
director Peter Hall, best play, lighting designer, and scenic
designer, both of which were done by John Bury as well.
The play was revived in 2000, and recieved Tony Award nominations for
best revival and best actor (David Suchet).
In 1984, Milo?Forman directed the screen version of Amadeus, which
featured F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce as Salieri and Mozart; as in
the Broadway production, both lead actors competed for the annual
award for Best Actor. The film won eight Academy Awards that year,
for Best Picture, Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham), Director (Milo?
Forman), Art Direction (Patrizia von Brandenstein and Karel Cerny),
Costume Design, Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Adapted Screenplay
(Shaffer). It was the inspiration for Falco's song "Rock Me Amadeus."
A young Kenneth Branagh was originally cast to play Mozart in the
film, but was replaced by Hulce at the eleventh hour.
The film version was shot on location in Prague and Vienna. In fact,
Forman was able to shoot scenes in the Tyl Theatre, where Don
Giovanni had debuted two centuries before. Several other scenes were
shot at the Barrandov Studios.
[ 本帖最后由 qqqq2046 于 2006-2-19 01:58 编辑 ] |
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