Andrew McMurtryREVIEW: Citizen Kane (1941)
October 7th 2008 01:38
“Citizen Kane” is arguably the greatest film ever made. Or at least that's the claim by American Film Institute. I tend to agree in that this is a brilliant movie and is stunning in that it was made in 1941. It has a great plot and structure and follows a tight narrative based around Kane’s dying word “Rosebud”. In the aftermath of his death we find all about Kane’s life and achievements via a “News on the March” reel. We find out the life of Kane as he would have wanted it, without too much detail, only the things which had been seen before. But the editor of the news was curious; what was “Rosebud”? A reporter is dispatched to find out what the meaning of the word was. The rest of the film is the reporter searching for the truth behind such an influential man’s last word. He goes to archives to look up records for a transcript of a biography written by Kane’s guardian, Mr Thatcher, asks two of his closest friends whom he worked with at the newspaper he owned, the Inquirer, and his second wife. All of them agree that Kane was a self-absorbed egomaniac and that he was consumed by selfishness, which is different to the story Kane would have liked to be released.
In the end, the reporter searches for the answer, who was Charles Foster Kane? Was he a villain or just a social parasite? This is never clearly revealed to the reporter either. His best friend Jebediah Leland thought he was a swine and a person who was not a real friend. He also sums up Kane’s biggest downfall. “That's all he ever wanted out of life... was love. That's the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane. You see, he just didn't have any to give.”
“Citizen Kane” a simple film with a simple story which was expertly shot using beautiful camera direction and great performance from all the actors involved. This film revolutionised the way that movies were shot and directed. Camera direction and movement was much more important after this film. Camera men could now shoot the story from any angle they wanted, compared to many movies before hand which were done with stationary cameras. I especially liked the clarity of the camera as it slow zoomed in onto “Rosebud”. This was a beautiful and poignant reveal of the search for meaning in Kane’s last words, althoug no one in that world will ever know. It doesn’t answer any questions about who Kane was but it shows that he wasn’t a completely unemotional man. Unique lenses were also used to change the look of the film including the ‘bug-eye’ lens during his election speech, which meant that the subjects were magnified towards the middle of the screen. There were also strange camera angles refocusing where the action was.
The narrative of Citizen Kane is set up with the background knowledge of Kane portrayed through the newsreel. When the reporter goes off to find out what the word means, he slowly but surely begins to discover more about Charles Foster Kane, the enigma of a media mogul. This goes rather chronologically, starting with a short account of his childhood, where he was sold to the bank, to becoming the most important man in America, and widely regarded to be the next President if not for a newspaper article on a sordid affair with a singer just days before his election as governor. It basically shows Kane’s growth from a down to earth child up to the arrogant, spoiled-by-money, old recluse he was before he died.
I really enjoyed this film. I didn't think I would but it truly is a spectacular accomplishment in cinema history. Orson Welles redefined cinema and this film still has repercussions on directors today. I'd give it 4.5 out of 5, only cause I don't think it will be everybody's cup of tea. But if you want to see a truly great film, go and see this film.
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