Amadeus Page #2

He looks down. From under the door we see a trickle of blood

flowing. In horror, the two men stare at it. The dish of

cakes falls from the Cook's hand and shatters.

He sets the candlestick down on the floor. Both servants run

at the door frantically - once, twice, three times - and the

frail lock gives. The door flies open.

Immediately, the stormy, frenzied opening of Mozart's Symphony

No. 25 (the Little G Minor) begins. We see what the servants

see.

INT. OLD SALIERI'S SALON - NIGHT

Old Salieri lies on the floor in a pool of blood, an open

razor in his hand. He has cut his throat but is still alive.

He gestures at them. They run to him. Barely, we glimpse the

room - an old chair, old tables piled with books, a forte-

piano, a chamber-pot on the floor - as the Valet and the

Cook struggle to lift their old Master, and bind his bleeding

throat with a napkin.

INT. BALLROOM - NIGHT

Twenty-five dancing couples, fifty guests, ten servants,

full orchestra.

As the music slows a little, we see a Masquerade Ball in

progress. A crowded room of dancers is executing the slow

portion of a dance fashionable in the early 1820's.

EXT. STREET OUTSIDE SALIERI'S HOUSE - NIGHT

As the fast music returns, we see Old Salieri being carried

out of his house on a stretcher by two attendants, and placed

in a horse-drawn wagon under the supervision of a middle-

aged doctor in a tall hat. This is DOCTOR GULDEN. He gets in

beside his patient. The driver whips up the horse, and the

wagon dashes off through the still-falling snow.

MONTAGE:

EXT. FOUR STREETS OF VIENNA AND

INT. THE WAGON - NIGHT

The wagon is galloping through the snowy streets of the city.

Inside the conveyance we see Old Salieri wrapped in blankets,

half-conscious, being held by the hospital attendants. Doctor

Gulden stares at him grimly. The wagon arrives outside the

General Hospital of Vienna.

CUT TO:

INT. A HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - LATE AFTERNOON

A wide, white-washed corridor. Doctor Gulden is walking down

it with a priest, a man of about forty, concerned, but

somewhat self-important. This is Father VOGLER, Chaplain at

the hospital. In the corridor as they walk, we note several

patients -- some of them visibly disturbed mentally. All

patients wear white linen smocks. Doctor Gulden wears a dark

frock-coat; Vogler, a cassock.

DOCTOR GULDEN:

He's going to live. It's much harder

to cut your throat than most people

imagine.

They stop outside a door.

DOCTOR GULDEN:

Here we are. Do you wish me to come

in with you?

VOGLER:

No, Doctor. Thank you.

Vogler nods and opens the door.

INT. OLD SALIERI'S HOSPITAL ROOM - LATE AFTERNOON

A bare room - one of the best available in the General

Hospital. It contains a bed, a table with candles, chairs, a

small forte-piano of the early nineteenth century. As Vogler

enters, Old Salieri is sitting in a wheel-chair, looking out

the window. His back is to us. The priest closes the door

quietly behind him.

VOGLER:

Herr Salieri?

Old Salieri turns around to look at him. We see that his

throat is bandaged expertly. He wears hospital garb, and

over it the Civilian Medal and Chain with which we will later

see the EMPEROR invest him.

OLD SALIERI:

What do you want?

VOGLER:

I am Father Vogler. I am a Chaplain

here. I thought you might like to

talk to someone.

OLD SALIERI:

About what?

VOGLER:

You tried to take your life. You do

remember that, don't you?

OLD SALIERI:

So?

VOGLER:

In the sight of God that is a sin.

OLD SALIERI:

What do you want?

VOGLER:

Do you understand that you have

sinned? Gravely.

OLD SALIERI:

Leave me alone.

VOGLER:

I cannot leave alone a soul in pain.

OLD SALIERI:

Do you know who I am? You never heard

of me, did you?

VOGLER:

That makes no difference. All men

are equal in God's eyes.

OLD SALIERI:

Are they?

VOGLER:

Offer me your confession. I can offer

you God's forgiveness.

OLD SALIERI:

I do not seek forgiveness.

VOGLER:

My son, there is something dreadful

on your soul. Unburden it to me. I'm

here only for you. Please talk to

me.

OLD SALIERI:

How well are you trained in music?

VOGLER:

I know a little. I studied it in my

youth.

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