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How did Salieri feel about Mozart towards the end?

posted 11 years ago by Manifest_12
16 replies | jump to latest

I've watched this movie many times, but this is still vague for me. Salieri's hatred first develops when he meets Mozart, who despite being childish and immature, can out-compose him with his eyes closed, despite the former's dedication to music and even voluntary celibacy. It further intensifies when he finds out Mozart slept with his dream girl and pupil.

Near the end, Salieri rescues a collapsing Mozart at the vaudeville and takes him back to his house, presumably because he can't let him die before completing "Salieri's" requiem. Salieri then lies to Mozart and tells him that the 100 ducats from the vaudeville proceedings are for the requiem, and that if he finishes tonight he's promised 100 more. Obviously Salieri isn't concerned about the abysmally sick state Mozart is in, or about eventually being caught as a liar (that lie would come out in a few days at most, when Mozart/Stanzi asks for their earnings from the vaudeville). It almost seems Salieri is going to murder him that very night, while his wife and child are gone and the requiem is finished.

Salieri begins to help Mozart finish his requiem. His obvious excitement could either be due to the pleasure of participating in composing this great music, or the thought that he gets to take credit for this after he kills Mozart. Mozart then apologizes to Salieri, a vague "general" apology to be sure, but apparently because he thought Salieri did not care for his music.

At this point, I wonder if Salieri is really going to kill Mozart. The energy between them has changed during the "composition" scene, indeed it seems that they could almost be on the brink of starting a friendship. Salieri hates God first and foremost, but his hatred of Mozart seems to evaporate here. I could be wrong, and perhaps Salieri would strangle the life out of him as soon as the last measure was written, but I can't think so with certainty.

At the very ending (the beginning of the movie) Salieri is begging for Mozart's forgiveness. Was this sincere? Did he recognize the error of his ways much later, as an old man, or did his feelings towards Mozart soften much before then?

[–] strntz 11 years ago

At this point, I wonder if Salieri is really going to kill Mozart.

It was never Salieri's intention to "kill" Mozart. He (at least in this story) wanted Mozart to compose a requiem that he would then later claim as his own (guessing he thought he would out live Mozart).

He confesses to killing Mozart to the priest because he believes his driving Mozart to complete the piece while ill is what caused his death, a death that was unintentional.

And while Salieri was clearly jealous of Mozart, never once did he not acknowledge to his face that his work was superior. My favorite scene is when Salieri, in a moment of complete candor, says (paraphrasing) that Mozart is the greatest composer known to him.

It is bad to drink Jobu's rum. Very bad.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] Manifest_12 10 years ago

What, Salieri shouting "Mozart, Mozart, forgive your assassin?" doesn't count?

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Manifest_12 10 years ago

I think he was just reliving his emotions. Good storytellers do this, and Salieri is a great storyteller. I'm just not sure that he would have strangled Mozart in his bed after they wrote the Requiem together, which is obviously what he would have to do. If he lets Mozart live, the truth is going to come out sooner or later, which is that Salieri is trying to claim his work for himself by posing as a patron and taking the theater's receipts and telling Mozart it's for the Requiem. Salieri's lies are not going to last long.

It IS the perfect opportunity to kill Mozart after all, Stanzi and the child are away, Mozart is sick and weak and a death wouldn't have much of an inquiry behind it.

Or maybe the writer knew how he wanted to end the story anyway and this whole discussion is moot. XD

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] ZoeBloemfontein 10 years ago

...the dominant emotion he seemed to have in regards to Mozart was bitterness and jealousy.

Also, guilt. I don't think that Salieri was inherently bad, like Mozart he was driven by ambition, and pride. He couldn't help himself when it came to trying to best Mozart, when all becomes fair in love and war. But he knew that Mozart was the better composer, and that he had wronged him.

[–] DoctorShemp 10 years ago

I always felt that Salieri did indeed soften his opinion of Mozart in that scene because he finally got witness first-hand his composition process. It sort of de-mythologized everything and all of the things he was blowing out of proportion in his mind, and made him realize Mozart was just a guy coming up with ideas. This is also true for the viewer, it's the only real glimpse we actually get into Mozart's head in the entire movie.

[–] LeofricsBeloved 10 years ago

I think one of the biggest tragedies about this film is that Mozart and Salieri could actually have been great friends and collaborators if Salieri wasn't so blinded by his rage and jealousy. They did have a deep mutual appreciation for each other towards the end - Mozart appreciated some of Salieri's music (when Salieri won the medal from the Emperor), and Salieri recognized the beauty of Mozart's work. In the film, Salieri was Mozart's biggest fan or groupie if you will - he was practically stalking Mozart; he was there at every performance Mozart was conducting. The scene where they worked on the Requiem was one of the most exciting scenes I've ever seen in cinema - the pacing, the series of sounds evoked when Mozart was composing, Salieri's enthusiasm and passion, and the impending death while he was trying to muster his last strength to finish his work.

[–] Phagocyte 10 years ago

In the film, Salieri was Mozart's biggest fan or groupie if you will.

The scene where they worked on the Requiem was one of the most exciting scenes I've ever seen in cinema - the pacing, the series of sounds evoked when Mozart was composing, Salieri's enthusiasm and passion, and the impending death while he was trying to muster his last strength to finish his work.

Absolutely right. I also wondered whether Salieri's suggestion that he help Mozart finish the work was at this stage motivated more by burning curiosity about Mozart's compositional method and his desire to witness the process of giving birth to such great work (that he himself felt he fell short of), than a malicious ploy to hasten Mozart's death (and in any case, there was no way he could know that Mozart was terminally ill, although we know this retrospectively).

Musical historians may correct me, but the movie is in any case based on the legend that Salieri poisoned Mozart, which has its origins in either i) Salieri's own admission when he became insane many years later and/or ii) a literary work of Alexander Pushkin.

It seems the movie is neither faithful to historical accuracy nor to the fiction from which it's derived...

[–] LeofricsBeloved 10 years ago

According to Wikipedia's entry on Mozart and Salieri (bear with me ;-)), Mozart and Salieri did indeed socialize and work together. However, Mozart's letters to his father mention how the "Italian" faction in court was constantly placing obstacles in his path, as shown in the film. Were the Mozart and Salieri "frenemies" in modern terms? It's hard to know.

Pushkin's story as well as legends provide an intriguing story that's spicy and dramatic.

In the film, Salieri confessed to orchestrating Mozart's demise by first demolishing Mozart's ability to make a living. His partying, spendthrift lifestyle as well as stress caused him to be ill. Salieri destroyed him by pulling strings behind the scenes, especially by hurting Mozart's chances at receiving jobs. If Mozart's work did end up on stage and concert halls, Salieri found ways to make the reception unsuccessful. If Mozart didn't fall ill, it was implied that Salieri would have found another way to murder him. It's much easier to destroy someone who's down on his luck, especially someone who is already self-destructive to begin with.

Salieri, being Mozart's ultimate groupie, was fascinated by how Mozart worked. Even though Salier was talented, albeit limited, he couldn't keep up with Mozart's composing. It was a truly engaging scene.

The universality of this story is something that triggers something in us all - that at one point or another, we all feel inferior to others and wish we had what others have. This story explores this sentiment in all its perversity and depth.

[–] Sugarminx 10 years ago

The scene where they worked on the Requiem was one of the most exciting scenes I've ever seen in cinema...

And to think that scene was, in large part, improvised by the two actors! Just marvellous.

So put some spice in my sauce, honey in my tea, an ace up my sleeve and a slinkyplanb

[–] robgarcia07 10 years ago

And by collaboration you mean take dictation from Mozart? Salieri was inferior and he knew it

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] LeofricsBeloved 10 years ago

Yes, but even to take dictation from Mozart and to understand it requires a high degree of musical expertise. No one else could have written Mozart's dictation out except Salieri and other musicians of that caliber.

[–] celestekent 9 years ago

Salieri was totally convinced that God was using Mozart and Mozart was actually living his compositions while he composed them. By requiring Mozart to write a Requiem Mass it would require Mozart to actually die in the process of creating it. So in effect God would be killing Mozart, Salieri would only be the agent of that death by forcing Mozart to complete it.

Salieri has long passed the time for his own compositions, still one final Requiem might boost his career and since it would be in his own handwriting, he could claim the credit. Salieri hated God far more than he hated Mozart and therefore could at least ask forgiveness from him.