영화 『아마데우스』(Amadeus)의 상징

Symbols in the Film Amadeus

Amadeus, a 1984 film directed by Milos Forman and adapted from Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus, is a story based on the lives of two composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. The movie depicts the relationships between a father and a son and God and men. Their relationships and images are presented by various symbols such as a dark grey cloak, a grey mask, the cross, and musical symbols. This paper investigates various symbols presented in the film Amadeus. The meanings of the symbols will also be discussed. The cross is a symbol depicting Salieri's response to God. Salieri commits himself to God through music, but he recognizes that God, through Mozart's musical genius, is laughing at Salieri's own musical mediocrity. He cannot understand the reason why God chose "a boastful, lustful, smutty infantile boy" for his instrument, and decides to ruin God's incarnation, Mozart. Salieri's angry decision to avenge his treatment by God is well presented in the scene where he stares at the cross and it bursts into flame. A dark grey cloak and mask are the symbols depicting Mozart's relation to his father Leopold. They represent the oppressive and threatening power of the father who criticizes a lustful son. The character of Leopold is similar to that of Commendador in Don Giovanni who accuses Don Giovanni, the libertine. The grim opening chords from the "Overture" to Don Giovanni, heard frequently whenever Leopold appears, is the musical symbol to denote Mozart's fear and terror. Salieri, who knows Mozart's fear of his father, hides himself wearing a mask and a cloak similar to those of Leopold, and asks Mozart to compose a requiem mass. In the background of the grim sound from Don Giovanni, he urges Mozart to complete the requiem quickly. Ironically, Mozart begins to write his own requiem mass. The terrifying sounds from "Dies Irae" (Day of wrath) and "Rex Tremendae" (King of Tremendous Majesty) in the Requiem Mass remind us the horrifying God who will descend to earth to judge all sinners on the day of judgement. Therefore, "Dies Irae" and "Rex Tremendae" are effective musical devices presented at the time of Mozart's death. "Lacrimosa" (Tearful Day) is the final symbol representing for God's mercy and compassion for a guilty man, Mozart. It is a powerful symbol producing pathos in the film Amadeus.