Journal Article

Amadeus

Viljoen, Martina, Viljoen, Nicol

2018

Overview

In this article, the film Amadeus is studied as a representation of musical genius. It is argued that the compelling portrayal of the composer’s artistic persona displays elements of incongruity and paradox, as also suggested in mainstream Mozart scholarship. While it is acknowledged that the film fails to exemplify Mozart’s life story factually or objectively, it is found simultaneously that the core narrative content is corroborated by authoritative biographical sources. In terms of an interpretive frame of reference, Salieri’s dramatic monologue is one point of entry through which Mozart’s persona is creatively construed in Amadeus, while the film’s soundtrack may be seen as another, acting as a ‘second narrative’ that illuminates Mozart’s inner being in a profound and extraordinary way. In this regard, the work of Leonard Ratner, Wye Jamison Allanbrook and Stephen Rumph serves as points of departure for reading Mozart’s music as based in a rich lexicon of expressive signs and symbols. Understood in this way, Amadeus’s soundtrack offers deep insight into human character and emotion, and, ultimately, also into Mozart’s own consummate grasp of human existence. U ovom se članku istražuje film Amadeus kao predstavljanje glazbenog genija. Raspravlja se o tome da izazovni portret skladateljeve glazbene osobnosti očituje elemente nesklada i paradoksalnosti, kao što to sugerira i dominantna struja znanosti o Mozartu. Iako se potvrđuje da film nije uspio pokazati Mozartovu priču ni faktografski ni objektivno, istodobno nalazimo da je narativ filmskog sadržaja potkrijepljen autoritativnim biografskim izvorima. U interpretativnim okvirima referentnosti Salierijev dramatski monolog jedna je stavka kojom se u Amadeusu Mozartova osobnost stvaralački konstruira, dok se zvučni z apis (soundtrack) filma može shvatiti kao druga stavka koja djeluje kao ‘drugi narativ’ koji na dubok i izvanredan način osvjetljuje Mozartovo unutarnje hiće. U tom smislu djela Leonarda Ratnera, Wye Jamison Allanbrook i Stephena Rumpha služe kao polazišta za čitanje Mozartove glazbe utemeljene u bogatom leksiku izražajnih znakova i simbola. Shvaćen na taj način, Amadeusov zvučni zapis nudi dubok uvid u ljudski karakter i emocije te u krajnjoj liniji i u Mozartovo vlastito konačno shvaćanje ljudske egzistencije.

• Publisher: Croatian Musicological Society
• Subject: Research Papers – Izvorni znanstveni članci