Steve Schwartz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Actually, it's a play that purports to tell you something about the
>nature of genius vs.  talent.  Of course, it does nothing of the sort.
>It cops out along the way and winds up with "it's a mystery." This wouldn't
>be quite so bad if Shaffer had thrown the audience some sort of a bone
>before he announced there was no meat.  As it stands, the play is a
>blood-and-thunder "melodrammer" made tonier and More Important because
>one of the characters is named Mozart.

This is an interesting but hardly conclusive criticism.  Working
BACKWARDS, narrative has always on the symbolic principle & used familarity
to hopefully provide insight into the unfamiliar; so criticising Amadeus
because derives a lot of its meat on the icongraphic status of Wolfie is
about as meaningless as criticising Homer for telling the story of the
battle for Troy from the results of Achilleus's rage...  the complex former
is clarified by the symbol of the former in what would become a classic
narrative device.

The intent of the film is also worth discussing:  is Amadeus truly a film
about talent & genius?; or is this dichotomy simply a symbolic hook for a
character study of Salieri? If the former, then Steve's definitely right;
but i've always seem both the play & the film as the latter (in effect, the
question of artistic genius & talent is simply a perception in Salieri's
mind which motivates his attempt at a criminal stroke of genius), which
again makes his criticism irrelevant.

You pays yer money & you takes yer pick, i guess.

>It is also pretty short on ideas, especially ideas that haven't been
>recycled to far better use.

While the historical ideas about the Salieri/Mozart supposed
relationship are old hat; both Schaffer's play & Forman's adaptation had
some interesting approaches to storytelling...  which would be worth noting
if this was a theatre/film discussion list rather than MCML.  Speaking as
someone who by & large >doesn't< like Mozart's music, the film is better
than Steve seems to be believe; if perhaps a bit too theatrically
exploratory to speak completely clearly the nonAmadeian audience.

Live in peace
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endeavour2 project <http://www.geocities.com/robtclements/endeavour2.html>