Summary
Salieri spends the night at Mozart's residence. Mozart thanks him for being the only one of his colleagues to attend the opening night of The Magic Flute. Salieri responds to Mozart's kind words by complimenting him. Even though Salieri hates Mozart, his compliments to Mozart appear to be sincere. He does admire Mozart's talent. He does see Mozart as the greatest composer in the world despite wanting Mozart dead.
While Salieri and Mozart are talking, they hear a knock. Mozart thinks that it is the masked man. Instead, it is Schikaneder. Schikaneder is very happy with The Magic Flute, which is the opera that Mozart wrote for him, and wants to celebrate the successful opening night, but Salieri tells Schikaneder and the other actors tagging along to not disturb Mozart. Before Schikaneder leaves with his comrades, he gives Salieri a bag of money and tells Salieri to give the bag to Mozart as Mozart's share of profit from the successful night.
After Schikaneder leaves, Salieri continues his conversation with Mozart. Mozart asks what the person at the door wanted. Salieri allows Mozart to continue to believe that the figure at the door was the masked figure. He also allows Mozart to believe that the bag of money comes from the masked figure and tells Mozart that the masked figure promises a larger sum of money, one hundred ducats, if Mozart can finish the Requiem by tomorrow night. Mozart is too exhausted to work on the Requiem, but Salieri volunteers to help him.
Meanwhile, Constanze who is far from Vienna feels that something is wrong and quickly hurries back to Vienna with her son. While Constanze races home, Mozart and Salieri work through the night. They are a dynamic duo. Mozart sees the notes while Salieri writes everything that Mozart sees. Salieri finds it hard at times to keep up with Mozart's train of thought, but he refuses to give up. In the end, Mozart compliments his transcribing skills, and Salieri is elated with this acknowledgement. Mozart and Salieri's love and passion for music truly shine through the night.
Mozart's physical state does not improve through the night. When morning comes, Mozart can no longer ignore his weakened body, and he decides to take a break despite Salieri's encouragement to keep going. Mozart does not want to be alone while he takes a break from the piece. He tells Salieri to stay with him while he sleeps. Salieri promises not to leave him. Moved by Salieri's promise, Mozart makes another confession before going to sleep. He tells Salieri that he believed that Salieri did not like him and his work and begs Salieri for forgiveness.
Constanze and her son enter the household a few moments later. Constanze, with her son tagging along, goes to the bedroom and sees Mozart sleeping peacefully on their marital bed. She stares fondly at Mozart's sleeping body for a few seconds before noticing the other sleeping body in the room. The other body lies on her son's tiny bed. She goes to the other figure and she is surprised to see that it is Salieri. She wants Salieri to go away immediately, given what he once propositioned her to do.
Salieri refuses to leave. He tells her that Mozart wants him near. Constanze wants to press him to go but Mozart, who is now awake, distracts her. Constanze goes to a frail Mozart and caresses him. She looks over the sheets of music that lie all around Mozart. She realizes that the piece is what the masked figure commissioned Mozart to compose and no longer wants Mozart to work on the piece. As all this happens, Karl plays with the coins from the bag that Salieri had told Mozart came from the masked figure.
Constanze locks the sheets of music in a glass case and continues to press Salieri to go away. Salieri says once again that he will not leave until Mozart tells him to go. As Constanze goes to Mozart to ask him to tell Salieri to leave, she finds Mozart's body cold and lifeless. Mozart is dead.
Mozart's funeral is far from grand. Only his wife, his son, his mother-in-law, Lorl, Salieri, Schikaneder, Katherina, and Baron Van Swieten attend his funeral. Also, Mozart's body is dumped in a mass grave, and there is no tombstone. Mozart's modest death is a blow to Salieri in many ways. The Requiem that Salieri planned on playing at Mozart's funeral is not only locked away, but it is also unfinished. Furthermore, Salieri would not have gained any fame from the Requiem even if it had been finished in time. Very few people attend Mozart's funeral, and these individuals have little influence in Vienna society.
When old Salieri finishes his narrative, the priest has a distressed look on his face. Old Salieri blames God for Mozart's death. He asserts that if God had answered his prayers, he would not have felt the need to hurt Mozart. Old Salieri shows more sadness at what has happened to him and his music than at his crimes towards Mozart. Salieri tells the priest that he has watched himself and his music fade into obscurity these last thirty-two years. An asylum attendant interrupts old Salieri’s rant. The attendant comes to take old Salieri to the shower and then to breakfast. As Salieri's chair is ushered out of the room by the attendant, Salieri tells the priest that he speaks for all mediocre souls, including the priest. Outside of the room, Salieri in his wheelchair tells his fellow asylum inmates that he absolves them of their mediocrities. Mozart's high-pitched laugh is the last sound of the film.
Analysis
This last section cements the ineffectiveness of the father figures in the film. Father Vogler, God, Mozart, Leopold, Michael Schlumberg, and Salieri's father are all ineffective in the film. Father Volgler is silent for most of the film. Apart from expressions of complete horror, he offers nothing to Salieri. God also disappoints Salieri. He does not answer any of Salieri's prayers.
Mozart dies before fixing his financial troubles. He essentially leaves his wife and son in debt. Leopold gives advice during his stay at Mozart's residence, but both Mozart and Constanze disregard his opinions. Michael Schlumberg and Salieri's father intimidate their children, but their intimidation achieves nothing. Michael Schlumberg screams at his daughter, but his voice makes her more nervous, and she is unable to play the piano in front of Mozart. Salieri's father tries to steer Salieri into commerce by ridiculing young Salieri's passion for music, but young Salieri's passion for music burns even brighter.
This section of the film also cements Mozart's redemption. In his last hours, Mozart is sincere with Salieri. He thanks Salieri for seeing The Magic Flute. As the night progresses, Mozart goes so far as to praise Salieri. As he and Salieri work on the Requiem, he looks over the sheets that Salieri transcribes and tells Salieri that they are good. This is the first sincere compliment that Mozart gives Salieri. Furthermore, Mozart apologizes to Salieri. He tells Salieri that he is sorry for believing that Salieri despised him and his work.
Salieri, on the other hand, is not redeemed at the end of the film. Salieri stays with Mozart in Mozart's last hours, but his actions over the course of the night are far from noble. Despite seeing that Mozart is physically weak, he manipulates Mozart into staying up all night to work on the Requiem. He shows more concern for the completion of the Requiem than for Mozart's wellbeing.
Furthermore, Salieri intrudes into Mozart's life until the end. He costs Constanze precious minutes with Mozart. Mozart dies while Constanze is busy telling Salieri to leave their household. Salieri attends Mozart's funeral despite his actions against Mozart. He does not ask Constanze for forgiveness, and Mozart dies without knowing about any of the negative actions that Salieri has taken against him and Constanze over the course of the film.
