Monday, July 25, 2011

Request: Citizen Kane


I'm not going to try and write something original that's never been written before about this movie. It would be impossible. This movie has been scrutinized to no end by countless film critics and cinemaphiles for decades. Considered by a lot of them as the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane is ingrained in American culture as is its creator Orson Welles. When Welles adapted H.G. Wells famous novel The War of the Worlds to a radio program, he gained immediate fame and notoriety. Welles moved on to Hollywood where he surprisingly got a deal with RKO Radio Pictures to make the movie he would co-write, direct, and act in the lead role... all this on his first feature film. Surprisingly the film was originally a flop, but about a decade later it was re-released to critical acclaim. This film has been an inspiration to filmmakers for a long time.

The movie deals with newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles). He had just died after a long life of politics, news and eventually seclusion in his very own castle aptly named Xanadu. In order to make the news of Kane's death more exciting, a reporter is charged with trying to find out what the word Kane uttered right before he died meant. "Rosebud" is the simple but astounding plot device that makes the film go. This means that the reporter has to go back to the different characters in Kane's life in order to hear the story of his life from their point of view.

Citizen Kane was an incredibly innovative movie when it came out in 1941. It doesn't take long to see the interesting things that Welles and his crew were able to implement. For example, the use of a newsreel in order to basically tell you everything that happened before going back and retracing it all in flashbacks and memories of his friends and enemies. The interesting thing about it is that subtly you get to see different sides of Kane and you never get a clear picture as to who he really was. The news man who had a soft spot for the working men, the charismatic politician looking to rid the town of crooked politicians, the charming boss, the hard ass boss, the oft times violent recluse... they are all the enigma that is Charles Foster Kane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzhb3U2cONs

If you look at that scene, one of my favorites from the movie, you can see one of the sides of Charles Foster Kane.

Another trick that Orson Welles implemented was the angles of the camera work. If you watch the movie, you might notice that during some scenes, the camera goes from a low position and looks up at the ceiling. That makes Kane seem larger than life, which he was, but with only this, Welles could convey it even more poignantly. Look, I won't claim to be an expert on this kind of thing, I'm just pointing out the stuff that I found interesting in the movie.

Also, I think the film benefited greatly from being in black and white. The shadows throughout the movie make it feel eerie and mysterious. For example, when the reporter goes to read Walter Parks Thatcher (the man responsible for sort of keeping the boy Kane's money and sort of raising him as well), it feels like the reporter is doing something wrong. You get the feeling that something is going to happen. Similarly, the use of echoes in this scene and in the scenes in Xanadu, especially heighten the sense of foreboding and emptiness.

"When did I get inside the movie Hostel!?"


I'm not going to keep ranting about the technical aspects anymore. Does the story hold up? I think this kind of story is timeless. Sure, the reporter in this day and age would be using mostly the internet but still, our fascination towards personalities like Charles Foster Kane and their lives remains intact. The search for "Rosebud" is intriguing and the ending (which I will not spoil) shows a different side of Kane that we hadn't seen before in the whole film.

If you get a chance to check this movie out, do so. I remember someone telling me that this movie was boring. I can't help but disagree more wholeheartedly. It's an enthralling film that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. The praise that this movie has gotten is well deserved. The plot is intriguing and groundbreaking for its time and the acting by Orson Welles is something to behold. Credit to the supporting cast as well, especially Dorothy Comingore as Kane's second wife Susan Alexander Kane and Joseph Cotten as Jedediah Leland.

I can't possibly recommend this movie more.


10 out of 10

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