Amadeus Page #43

CUT TO:

EXT. A SNOWY STREET IN VIENNA - DUSK - 1790'S

As the tutti of the D Minor Concerto continues, we see

Salieri, dressed in this menacing costume, dark against the

snow, stalking through a street which is otherwise lively

with people going to various festivities. Some of them wear

frivolous carnival clothes.

INT. MOZART'S LIVING ROOM - DUSK - 1790'S

Mozart sits writing at a table. He appears now to be really

quite sick. His face expresses pain from his stomach cramps.

There is a gentle knock at the door. He rises, goes to he

door and opens it. Immediately there is a SHOCK CUT:

The dark, frowning mask stares at him and at us. The violent

D Minor chord which opens Don Giovanni is heard. Salieri in

costume stands in the doorway.

SALIERI:

Herr Mozart?

The second chord sounds and fades. Mozart stares in panic.

SALIERI:

I have come to commission work from

you.

MOZART:

What work?

SALIERI:

A Mass for the dead.

MOZART:

What dead? Who is dead?

SALIERI:

A man who deserved a Requiem Mass

and never got one.

MOZART:

Who are you?

SALIERI:

I am only a messenger. Do you accept?

You will be paid well.

MOZART:

How much?

Salieri extends his hand. In it is a bag of money.

SALIERI:

Fifty ducats. Another fifty when I

have the Mass. Do you accept?

Almost against his will, Mozart takes the money.

MOZART:

How long will you give me?

SALIERI:

Work fast. And be sure to tell no

one what you do. You will see me

again soon.

He turns away. Mozart closes the front door. Instantly we

hear the opening of the Requiem Mass (also in D Minor).

Mozart turns and looks up at the portrait of his father on

the wall. The portrait stares back. Constanze opens the door

from the bedroom. She sees him staring up.

CONSTANZE:

Wolfi? Wolfi!

He looks at her with startled eyes. The music breaks off.

CONSTANZE:

Who was that?

MOZART:

No one.

CONSTANZE:

I heard voices.

He gives a strange little giggle.

CONSTANZE:

What's the matter?

She sees the bag of money.

CONSTANZE:

What's that? Oh!

(pouncing on it)

Who gave you this? How much is it?

Wolfi, who gave you this?

MOZART:

I'm not telling you.

CONSTANZE:

Why not?

MOZART:

You'd think I was mad.

He stares at her. She stares at him.

INT. OLD SALIERI'S HOSPITAL ROOM - NIGHT - 1823

Old Salieri is now wildly animated, totally driven by his

confession to Vogler.

OLD SALIERI:

My plan was so simple, it terrified

me. First I must get the Death Mass

and then achieve the death.

Vogler stares at him in horror.

VOGLER:

What?

OLD SALIERI:

His funeral - imagine it! The

Cathedral, all Vienna sitting there.

His coffin, Mozart's little coffin

in the middle. And suddenly in that

silence, music. A divine music bursts

out over them all, a great Mass of

Death:
Requiem Mass for Wolfgang

Mozart, composed by his devoted friend

Antonio Salieri. What sublimity!

What depth! What passion in the music!

Salieri has been touched by God at

last. And God, forced to listen.

Powerless - powerless to stop it. I

at the end, for once, laughing at

Him. Do you understand? Do you?

VOGLER:

Yes.

OLD SALIERI:

The only thing that worried me was

the actual killing. How does one do

that? How does one kill a man? It's

one thing to dream about it. It's

very different when you have to do

it, with your own hands.

He raises his own hands and stares at them. The raging Dies

Irae from Mozart's Requiem Mass bursts upon us.

CUT TO:

INT. MOZART'S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT - 1790'S

Mozart sits working frantically at this demonic music. His

whole expression is one of wildness and engulfing fever. He

pours wine down his throat, spilling it, and grimaces as it

hits his stomach. All around him are manuscripts.

There is a banging at the front door. Mozart does not hear

it; the music raves on. Another knocking comes, louder.

Constanze appears from the bedroom and stares at her

distracted husband. The knocking is repeated again, even

more violently and insistently.

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