The middle third of Faust Mario Salieri is a hallucinatory fever dream. We see Mario traversing impossible architectures: the mushroom kingdoms are revealed as the moldy backdrops of abandoned opera houses. Each “power-up” he collects is, per the subtitles, a sin. The Fire Flower is Lust . The Super Star is Pride . The 1-Up Mushroom is Despair disguised as hope .
[Salieri, weeping: “I only wanted to be remembered. Mozart had God. Mario has the thumb of a child. What do I have?”] [Faust’s candle: “You have the curse of the middle. Not first. Not last. Just… second.”] [Mario, finally speaking clearly: “Then let me fall. If I cannot be first, let my fall be the loudest sound in the theater.”] Faust Mario Salieri English Subtitles