CITIZEN KANE

Review on citizen Kane 

Citizen Kane? , Nah? Or Yay?

 ‘Citizen Kane’ a film directed by Orson Welles in 1941 voted greatest film of all time because of its innovative cinematography, music, and narrative structure.

The film was greatly appreciated because it came at the right time and America was under depression and the film reflected that, the production and release film gave an ‘awe’ in the film industries and in the eyes of the audience. However the film was not recognised till the 1990’s.The film was made with limited resources but still turned out great.

The film is a biography of wealthy man Charlie Foster Kane. The story was told by other people who new him because they were looking for answers after he was dead. The last word he said before he died was ‘Rosebud’. Nobody knew exactly what that meant so they set out to research his past and question those that knew him so that they will figure it out. Kane was a man that loved a lot and wanted more than anything to be loved as well, he was lonely and had the best interest at heart but executed it wrong.

The narrative structure of the film helps the audiences to understand the film with cinematography. It shows how Charlie foster Kane’s life after he is gone lives on in the memory of the living.

The film reflects the life of Kane through the views and opinion of other people and what they thought about him but the story was never told through Kane’s view and opinion.

The use of cinematography, mise-en-scene and sound in this film is splendid.

The voice over in the news scene helps the audience to interpret the visuals and helped the audience to understand they way their society works the voice over tells the audience what is happening (the death of Kane). It narrates the success of Kane and his impact on the society. It also narrates the life of Kane and how he became successful.

‘In every essence of his social beliefs and by the dangerously manner in which he has attacked the Americans traditions on private property’ this statement at the beginning goes against how some people saw him.

The scene where they where announcing who Charles Foster Kane is was packed with people which shows how important he was and how highly respected he was in the society.

 The camera angles in this film mostly show Kane in a low angle which makes the audience look up to him and make him look superior. It makes it look like the audiences as well as the other characters are looking up to him.

The use of cinematography shows how powerful Kane is and how highly he carries himself and how proud he feels. The lighting in each scene mostly focuses on Kane even if he is not the most important person in the scene.

The scene where Kane was blackmailed by his political opponent and his wife tries to manipulate him into doing what she wants, the camera angle is a high angle which makes it look like Kane was looking down on them and this also emphasises on his superiority.

The editing in this film was used to show passage of time and this is called elliptical editing. This was used in the scene where Susan Alexander was doing a puzzle and also the scene where Kane was talking to his first wife at the dinner table. This kept the audience in check and helped them to understand the emotions of the character and with this editing they could almost feel the tension as if they were there.

The characters that told the story of Kane, in their story when they knew Kane and when they were with him, they look relatively better than how they look now that he is dead. Susan         Alexander looks miserable and depressed as she narrates her own version of Kane’s life to Thompson. Although she was miserable in marriage she wasn’t better dressed and more respected in wealthier than how she was in the ‘present’ telling her story.

The search for the meaning of rosebud was never revealed to the characters but to the audience. It wasn’t a person or a place; it was an emblem of security, hope and innocence of childhood. He spent his entire life seeking to regain this lost innocence but didn’t.

“Maybe rosebud is something that he couldn’t get, or something he lost”, says Thompson.

The twist in the film was remarkable because the characters never got to know the ultimate question that were asked “what or who is rosebud?”

The making, setting, directing and casting of this film makes it indeed the greatest film of all time.