Herr Mozart

I've always loved that song...I just finished watching "Amadeus" in my music class and I really didn't know that it was more a serious dramedy (there's such a thing!) and not a farce like I thought it was. It's really a beautiful movie and it deserved all eight Oscars (!!!) it received. Observe this scene:

One of my faves. The scenes where Salieri burns his crucifix, the Emperor yawns during one of Mozart's operas, and the ending are great, too. I was rooting for Salieri, personally, but I always root for the villain...but, wait, who was the villain in this movie? Was it Mozart or Salieri? Mozart was an arrogant snob and Salieri plotted to kill him, so they're both not very decent men (although one can argue that Mozart's arrogance and condescension led the amiable Salieri to such a desperate act), but whose tale of strife was more worthy of compassion? A little tidbit for you all: in the spell check on this site, Mozart is considered correct while Salieri is considered a misspelling. It seems history has forgotten Salieri in a way that makes simple word processing have no clue who he is, which is huge considering his status during his time. Handel, Beethoven, Haydn, Bach, those are all in the spell check's dictionary. Not Salieri. Tragic, because I like his music just as much as any of those other guys' stuff. What an odd society we live in! It judges if one has "made it" based on Wikipedia and spell check. Thankfully, Herr Salieri at least has the former.

Anyway, the cast was great, too. Tom Hulce (Mozart) and F. Murray Abraham (Salieri) were both nominated for Best Actor Oscars. It's very rare that a movie has two actors nominated for the same award. Abraham won, which is cool because Salieri was my favorite character (can't you tell?). I think it's awesome how he was always dressed in black and brown, while Mozart always wore lots of colors. Nice contrast. I loved Jeffrey Jones as Emperor Joseph II, too, and he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe, but he didn't win (tear).

"I will speak for you, Father. I speak for all mediocrities in the world. I am their champion. I am their patron saint...Mediocrities everywhere...I absolve you...I absolve you...I absolve you...I absolve you...I absolve you all..."