Citizen Kane

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Citizen Kane

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Citizen Kane

Agnes Moorehead, Dorothy Comingore, Erskine Sanford, Fortunio Bonanova, George Coulouris

Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" is widely considered to be the greatest film to ever come out of Hollywood. The film is basically about a group of reporters who are trying to decipher the last word ever ...( read more  read more... )spoke by Charles Foster Kane, the millionaire newspaper tycoon: "Rosebud." The film begins with a news reel detailing Kane's life for the masses, and then from there, we are shown flashbacks from Kane's life. As the reporters investigate further, the viewers see a display of a fascinating man's rise to fame, and how he eventually fell off the "top of the world." Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles won an Oscar for writing the original screenplay.

Id: 10905434

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Citizen Kane Recent Reviews
  • Galeocerdo
    December 13, 2009
    Galeocerdo
    I'm still working out exactly why this is called the greatest piece of celluloid ever seen, but I can recognize its influence. The film's legendary status makes it beyond cool. The cinematography was revolutionary in its day and the acting (of the titular character) is compelling...( read more), not to mention the fact that the film stands up to dozens of repeat viewings. Most of its elements have, somewhere in the infinite of the movie hall of fame, been surpassed at one point or another, but its mystique and identity as the miraculous product of a renegade filmmaker may never be overshadowed.
  • webalina
    December 4, 2009
    webalina
    Not as big a fan of this film from an entertainment standpoint as a lot of people, but from a technical standpoint it's phenomonal.
  • mrpopcorn
    November 18, 2009
    mrpopcorn
    "Rosebud."

    Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance.

    REVIEW

    Still impressive after all these decades, today "Citizen K...( read more)ane" is probably more admired and analyzed than it is enjoyed, but there is plenty to admire. Even for those who just want to watch a good movie, not to analyze one, there's a lot to see. True, it's not really 'the greatest film ever made', especially because there isn't really such a thing, anyway, as 'the' one greatest film. There are a lot of great films, and by almost any standard this is one of them.

    Welles used his own skill and creativity along with his talented cast and crew to create a story that is a compelling character study and a thoughtful look at some significant aspects of life. The main character was based on a notorious figure of the era, but Welles made it much more than a story limited to his times, by bringing out what was behind his characters, and making the audience understand what the characters did not see about themselves. There are Kanes in every era (and also equivalents of those around him), some as large as the character himself, and others merely small-scale replicas. Since the story is based on characters and on ideas, rather than on action, it can seem slow if you are expecting more activity, but it's a story that has something to offer.

    Its outstanding technical accomplishments and historical importance may not be so obvious now, only because Welles's ideas and techniques have influenced so many later movies in one respect or another, making much that was imaginative then seem commonplace now. But it was quite an achievement all the same, and worthy of the attention it is still getting.
  • SirPant
    September 17, 2009
    SirPant
    The benchmark film that all others should aspire to!
  • her69eyes
    February 25, 2009
    her69eyes
    I recently wrote a review for "2001: A Space Odyssey", and in said review I pointed out the absurdity of writing about a movie with such a reputation. Well, here I go again, abusing film history even further by reviewing what is widely considered as the best American film of all ...( read more)time!

    Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) is a character widely recognized to have been inspired by William Randolph Hearst, a successful publisher who built himself the mansion known as San Simeon. A highly flamboyant billionaire, Hearst took exception to the parallels drawn between Kane and himself, and went as far as to calling Welles a communist in his publications prior to the 1942 Academy Awards. Perhaps that is to blame for the fact that "Citizen Kane", considered the greatest film in history, only took home one Oscar: for it's screenplay.

    A much more eerie close cousin of Charles Foster Kane is Orson Welles himself, whom never had much of a career following "Citizen Kane" due to the politics of RKO Radio Stations, whom although had given Welles the opportunity of a lifetime with disturbing his first picture, "Citizen Kane", nearly castrated his next picture, "The Magnificent Ambersons". Welles, like Kane, would eventually die alone - and prior to that was his legacy shamed by living in isolation and cashing paychecks by doing commercials.

    The film opens with a large castle on a hill known as "Xanadu", and inside the former publishing giant whispers his dying word - "rosebud". I don't feel i'm spoiling a thing by telling you that "rosebud" turns out to be a childhood sled, not the suspected mistress or racehorse that Kane's peers had expected it to be. The conundrum behind "Citizen Kane", however, is that although the mystery of the film is the meaning of the word "rosebud", Welles lets us know that one word can't define a man. In this way, Welles is able to show Kane's longing for a simpler life without compromising the depth of his character into a weeping little child who wants to hop on his sled one more time.

    Do I personally think that "Citizen Kane" is the unrivaled king of motion pictures? Perhaps not. However, along with "Cries and Whispers", I truly believe it's one of the most well-shot films in cinema history - not only an extreme innovator for it's time, but still rather unrivaled in modern film. While there's films I hold more dearly to my heart than this picture, it goes without saying that it's a must see for any film fanatic. Over 60 years later it still shows you things you've never seen before. And, besides, it's fucking "Citizen Kane", man. YEAH~!
  • citawijaya
    December 15, 2009
    citawijaya
    Now I see why AFI put this movie on their top of the list of the best movie. This is a true masterpiece. Orson Welles was a genius.. I can't believe this movie was made in 1941! This is for sure beyond its time. The story and acting are superb! For sure this will be in my fave mo...( read more)vie list.
  • Diogenis
    December 15, 2009
    Diogenis
    Unique for its time but not the greatest film to come out of Hollywood.
  • Prententious
    December 11, 2009
    Prententious
    It may be the greatest film of all time, but from an entertainment standpoint I found it to be severely lacking in what could be described by anyone not being paid to watch films as "fun".
  • Venieza
    December 8, 2009
    Venieza
    O is my fav. Movie was really good. If you like old movies this is one to check out as well.
  • ElCochran90
    December 8, 2009
    ElCochran90
    "Rosebud..."

    CITIZEN KANE (1941)


    Director: Orson Welles
    Country: United States of America
    Genre: Drama / Mystery
    Length: 119 minutes

    ...( read more)ted%20images/?action=view¤t=citizen_kane_1.jpg" target="_blank">Photobucket

    Orson Welles / United States of America / 1941... When any film critic put such terms into one single sentence, the inevitable memory that instantly pops up into the mind is arguably the best American film ever made: Citizen Kane. To make a review and a deep analysis of such giant icon may inevitably cause the writer to resort to terms like "best", "greatest", "influential", and "landmark". However, to resort to such words is the most truthful and factual reacti2on any cinema admirer normally experiences. Citizen Kane is one of the greatest films in the history of the motion picture. Without the creation of this gigantic magnum opus, the history of the art of filmmaking would not be the same nowadays. A statement comparing the influence of Citizen Kane over cinema and the influence of the Second World War over human history reaches almost the same magnitude regarding the peculiarities of their own topics. Orson Welles, as the underrated director that he really is, established a new narrative structure without forgetting in the slightest way what the filmmaking process intrinsically had to involve, like mixing the brilliance that Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) conglomerated and raising the bar to an unimaginable level.

    The legendary story begins when a group of reporters start to make an exhaustive investigation about the meaning of the last enigmatic word spoken by the newspaper baron Charles Foster Kane seconds before he heaves his last breath inside his extravagant mansion, Xanadu: "Rosebud". Through flashbacks we see the rise of a journalism emperor until he reaches the top of the world just to fall, irremediably. The film received 9 Academy Award nominations for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic Picture, Best Sound, Recording, Best Director and Best Picture, winning only the first Oscar. Obviously, the fact that the film was stolen eight (!) awards it really deserved mainly by Gary Cooper's Sergeant York (1941) and John Ford's How Green Was My Valley (1941) emphasizes Orson Welles' visionary brilliance, not only because Citizen Kane was a box-office failure while being generally disliked, but also because cinematic geniuses do not fully obtain the recognition they deserve in their own eras. It may seem unconceivable nowadays, but frankly, How Green Was My Valley (1941) offered the inspirational power-of-family feeling that Citizen Kane could not provide while the Second World War was brutally taking place.

    This filmic phenomenon opens with the introduction of the Xanadu mansion with a noticeably style that deliciously combined film-noir cinematography with a macabre sensation of horror and solitude. Through a masterful camera work and a genius use of lights and shadows, the death of the main character Charles Foster Kane is shown during the first five minutes, an event that caused the conventional narrative structure of American cinema to be completely challenged and shattered into pieces, like telling the ending of a story before it starts to develop. Naturally, the purpose of such technique has not passed unnoticed nowadays. Getting straight to the point, that is, the mortality of the human race despite the material and financial empire one single person may create through talent and influence over masses, may have been one of the characteristics that provided hatred and boredom to the film from the audience. However, this genius work of art is the result of the multitalented cinematographic capacities of an ahead-of-his-time auteur. The direction of Citizen Kane is extraordinarily ambitious and fast-paced, but with the help of the screenplay he developed with the collaboration of Herman J. Mankiewicz, a screenplay that belongs to the category of the best ones ever written and brought to the screen by human hands, took a premise that constituted an audacious and striking political commentary against the brainwashing that journalism causes in a consumerist society to the most superior category of cinema.

    Such powerful capitalist testament required believable and transcendent performances, a task that was basically achieved by the mere presence, tenacity and authoritarian personality of Charles Foster Kane alone. And how could such a colossal cinema icon could be effectively captured if not with a revolutionary camera work? The cinematography enhances the patriotic effectiveness the film had without being nauseating, a sensation that modern mindless directors are pretty much successful at creating. Welles went too far... and he had several good reasons. The aerial shots are spellbinding, pretty much like Fritz Lang accomplished in M (1931), but Welles portrayed the world from a very high perspective, seemingly resembling the view that the character of Kane had towards the world. The world, according to him, was a giant sphere to be conquered, a sphere full of people whose minds could be influenced for serving a particular purpose. It was the moral of such worldwide individuals the one that would irrevocably determine particular life decisions. Consequently, journalism was his motor, his principal motive to fill a psychological void that a rather empty and unpleasant childhood had created. These characteristics are strengthened by an awesome storytelling. Relativity and the personal trust towards people play a very important implicit role in the plot. The screenplay relies on the perspective of a reporter who gathers several versions of the life of the famous citizen. Through their own versions, which may not necessarily connect with each other, we have a very modest sample of how such a wonderful man raised out of the blue. This would be the structure that would influence several other films in the future, such as Akira Kurosawa's Rashômon (1950).

    To ruin the meaning of "Rosebud" is atrocious, so a particular film fan may better be careful of those who found the particular meaning pointless and ludicrous. We, as the audience, are offered the opportunity to solve the mystery behind that legendary filmic word. We see "Rosebud" after witnessing vast scenarios with a spectacular set decoration. We see Kane die. We are able to see that Kane was still a man with emotional connections and unfulfilled ambitions of materialism. He was just one more citizen, despite the monster he represented in society. Several citizens Kane are found nowadays and the idea behind the story that Welles imposed was the cleverest prophetic sample of the unkind personalities of superficial politicians. The reasons that put this film among the best ever created abound. Modern audiences may still share the initial reaction that the audiences of seven decades ago had, but their numbers have gradually decreased, and the day with which critics dreamed of has finally arrived, since the actual reputation of Citizen Kane has overshadowed the prejudiced opinion and predominant blindness that it was subject to, not to mention the never-ending conservatism of the AMPAAS. In case that you are planning to whisper "Rosebud" as your final world, do not feel guilty or surprised. It's natural.

    100/100
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