Requiem for Mozart
Cast & Crew
Vladimir Gorikker
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy
Pyotr Glebov
A. Milbret
Sergey Lemeshev
Aleksandr Pirogov
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
The proud composer Salieri, for whom success has been difficult to attain, envies Mozart, whose unrivaled talents have come to him naturally and who does not have to labor as others do to create his music. Mozart walks into the room in a jovial mood and forces Salieri to listen as a blind tavern fiddler plays Mozart's music. Salieri is disgusted by what he regards as the debasement of Mozart's art. After Mozart plays a new composition, Salieri invites him to dinner. Alone again, Salieri bemoans the height of his rival's artistry. He fears that the need to write music will end with Mozart, and, becoming enraged, he vows to poison the genius that night. At the inn that evening, Mozart is dejected and explains that he is working on a requiem. He reveals that he was approached 3 weeks ago by an unknown man dressed in black, who commissioned him to write the funeral work; since then Mozart has been haunted by his patron's presence. As the two composers drink to their health and friendship, Salieri poisons Mozart. Mozart begins to play his requiem and weeps; then, feeling ill, he goes home to sleep. Alone, Salieri attempts to rationalize his act of murder by comparing himself to Michelangelo, who, according to legend, killed for the sake of art.
Director
Vladimir Gorikker
Cast
Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy
Pyotr Glebov
A. Milbret
Sergey Lemeshev
Aleksandr Pirogov
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Released in the U.S.S.R. in November 1962 as Motsart i Salyeri.
