I thought this film was fairly good overall. I thought that the story was intriguing and that it kept me on the edge of my seat. The film’s costumes were quite good. I didn’t even realize that the old Salieri was the same actor who played the younger version of him until the end of the film. Most of the wardrobe made you feel like you were back in the 1700’s. You could definitely notice all the powdered wigs and stockings that all of the men wore. The women seemed to have dresses that were very large and that took up a lot of room. I felt as though it helped the audience believe that this story could have actually taken place.
The color pallet of the film was interesting. I think the director purposefully used darker colors in the background of the set in order to make the outfits and characters stand out. you saw a lot of browns and whites in the background. You definitely noticed the color red when it was present in the film. It gave the audience the sense that the color had symbolic meaning. It was present when characters that were part of the government were involved.
The locations of the film also had a big impact on the audience. Most scenes were shot what looked like beautiful 16th century buildings. It helped the audience feel like they were there. It made you believe that what composers did was important because they were constantly speaking with characters of political importance. The theater as well added perspective to the film. It wasn’t all that big, and on several occasions only a few people showed up to watch Mozart’s operas.
The production design was everything in this film. Without it, the whole story would seem unrealistic. The way the characters dressed suggested that they were obviously from another time period. It also suggested that in that time period people had different customs and mannerisms that you don’t see all that much in our time today. So really it helped the actors themselves seem believable as well.
The film could have depicted 1984 in the way that people were fascinated with costumes. The film depicted a few scenes where they had masquerade balls, where people could disguise themselves as whoever they would like to be. It made me think about another film made in that time called “Labrynth” with David Bowie. It was released just two years after this one, and it also had scenes of a masquerade ball.
The theme of the film is basically a man’s struggle with God to be the best composer there is. Salieri constantly referred to Mozart’s music as the very voice of God. He wasn’t really angry with Mozart because of his talent, but with God because he did not receive the same talent as Mozart.
The explicit meaning of the film is how a Italian composer meets a very talented rival and how he plots his rival’s demise. We are shown throughout the film how Salieri is captivated by Mozart’s music and how his jealousy forces him to try and destroy his work. In the end Salieri realizes that he was meant to be mediocre and that his music would never be as good as Mozart’s.
ghoward2016 