Milos Forman’s 1984 masterpiece, Amadeus, meaning “the love of God,” is a timeless depiction of superhuman talent through the lens of mediocrity. As a boy, Antonio Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham) prayed to God to let him be a composer, and to let his music immortalize him. Salieri believes his prayers are answered when he eventually becomes the recognized Court Composer of Vienna. However, Salieri questions his “God-given” talent upon meeting Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, played by the awkward Animal House star, Tom Hulce.

The young, immature Mozart has an unfathomable musical talent. Still, the only two people that fully recognize this are Salieri and Mozart himself. Salieri’s awareness of his own mediocrity gradually grows alongside his envy of Mozart’s musical ability. Nevertheless, no matter his efforts, Salieri cannot bring himself to hate Mozart; it is God who mocks him with Mozart’s shrill laughs, God who granted Mozart his dream, God is who deserves Salieri’s hatred. Although Salieri wants to claim the work as his own, the pure love for music transcends all envy and hatred when the two composers work together all night in an attempt to finish Mozart’s Requiem before his impending death. Hulce and Abraham’s chemistry finally syncs as Salieri ferociously transcribes the music streaming out of Mozart’s mouth, proving that the pure love of music transcends Salieri’s envy towards the virtuoso.

Years later, the nearly completely forgotten Salieri attempts to kill himself and even fails at that. He is brought to an asylum where he tells his story to a priest and confesses to murdering Mozart. After claiming to murder the famous Mozart, Salieri tells the priest that he will speak for him because he speaks for all mediocrity, he is their champion, their patron saint. By saying this, Salieri is accepting his mediocrity, which has haunted him for years. He finally welcomes it because, although his music has been forgotten, his legacy will be immortalized–he, Salieri, murdered “the love of God,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.