Citizen Kane

Orson Welles is a legend in itself. He is a dedicated director, actor, and artist. An artist in the sense he directed, produced, and was the star in the film ‘Citizen Kane.’ The film won an award for best screenplay that was co-written by Welles. ‘Citizen Kane’ brings into light many social problems between countries, relationships, and also between competing newspaper companies. The film was a big controversy when it was first released on a delay (because of personal conditions with W.R. Hearst). It brings into light how a newspaper should react and also brings the corruption of politics. War was breaking out in Europe and throughout the entire film Kane states there will be no war. He ignores the fact people are being killed, tortured, and rounded up like livestock because of Adolf Hitler. The film was released on May 1, 1941 a few days before Joseph Stalin becomes premier of Russia, a day before Nazis took over Netherlands, and eight days before the English army breaks the German codes.

The film introduces to us in the beginning a single word, ‘Rosebud.’ The audience having just tuned into the movie has no clue what the word means. In the opening music score there are many parallels that can be seen. This includes images on top of images, images digressing with other images, and images that clash with other images. Throughout the film you have these parallels not only with shots, but with people and real life figures. Private lives are not private at all. If you are a substantial figure in the world then people have clear access to you and your life. This goes along with the life of Kane. From his childhood he did great things and his life was publicized by his guardian. It is very important in the scheme of things because after Kane’s second wife divorced him he became a recluse and people had that curiosity about what he was doing in Xanadu.

The audience seems to go with this theme of privacy and can relate. This theme can be carried over to today and be related to the day to day life of current celebrities. There were a lot of paradoxes in the movie that turned back to that critical moment of Kane’s life when his guardian took him away from his home and Rosebud. The audience does not find out till the last scene what Rosebud is, but if you were smart and critical you would have found out as soon as you saw the sled being thrown down and the expression on young Kane’s face when he received another sled for Christmas. There no apparent stereotypes in the movie as far as I could tell. You had the mad driven young man who had anything he wanted, but he was very generous and hard at the same time. You did not know whether to sympathize with him or loathe him throughout the entire film.

Following many of Hitchcock’s traditions, Welles gives the film a one of a kind aspect when it comes to the actual filming. He adds deep shadows on shots to where the audience can not take a look at the faces; they hear voices and can not put a face to the sounds. He builds the actors up by placing the camera on the floor making the actors look ‘bigger than life’ when viewing them. The characters are the same people, yet they are all sorts of ages as the film continues. The movie is a deadline and the audience does not go through the plot step by step. Welles gives the film a setup with three stages. You have Kane’s death, 5 flashbacks, and then it’s back to modern times once again.

This is a classic film that critics place on top of their list. It wasn’t