Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloane
Stars: 4
The directorial debut of Orson Welles is considered by many as the best movie in cinematic history. AFI has ranked Citizen Kane number 1 on its 100 greatest movies list, it made New York Times 1000 greatest movies list, and is still studied in film schools all over the country. Given the movies reputation there is much to live up to. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion it does not live up to its colossal reputation.
The movie begins by introducing us to newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane in his last moments. Kane is shown in his elaborate and extravagant estate, Xanadu, located in Florida as he clutches a snow globe in his hands, and utters his last word, "rosebud" just before he dies. His death quickly became sensational news around the country and the newsreel editor decides that until they know who or what Rosebud is they will not have the entire story on Kane. So, he assigns a reporter, Jerry Thompson, to uncover the identity of Rosebud.
Thompson begins researching the life of Kane discovering much background of the newspaper tycoon, but is unable to find any mention of this Rosebud. The reporter attempts to talk with Susan Alexander Kane, Charles Foster Kane's ex wife, however she is inebriated and will not talk with the reporter. Thompson next finds the unpublished memoirs of Mr. Thatcher, Kane's first financial advisor and childhood guardian. After, learning much about Kane's early life from the unpublished memoirs, Thompson was then able to interview Mr. Bernstein, the general manager of Kane's newspaper empire, who then leads him to Jedediah Leland, Kane's college friend. Finally, Thompson is able to find more about the Kane saga through his butler at Xanadu, Raymond. Unfortunately, Thompson is never able to find out the identity of the now infamous Rosebud, however, it is revealed to the audience. The background information found out by Thompson is revealed to the audience through flashbacks, a new technique in cinema at the time.
Despite this movies engaging and fascinating story line, which documents the rise and fall of a newspaper tycoon through flashbacks, it fails to live up to the hype. Quite simply, this movie gets the "greatest movie in cinematic history" title because of its introduction of many new techniques to film, not for the story or artistic value being that much further ahead than all other movies. The film broke ground in cinematography by using the "deep focus," a technique which is when the background and/or foreground is in sharp focus. Also introduced are low angle shots to show ceilings and upward angles throughout the movie. The film also broke from the traditional linear storytelling and told almost the entire story of Kane through flashbacks, as well as multiple narrators, and new special effects. Despite my earlier critiques the film, it is absolutely a landmark in cinematic history.
However, even though it is a landmark in cinematic history, why do we always rank it as the best? Does first always equal better? I would have to say, especially in this case, the answer is no. Was the first prefect game to be thrown the best ever thrown? Is Knute Rockne the best coach in the history of football because he invented the forward pass? I would have to say the answer again is no. Can you think of any movies after Citizen Kane that used these techniques? They may have even done it better. While Citizen Kane is a wonderful movie with a great storyline, it is certainly not deserving of its number 1 ranking simply because of its new introduction in cinematography, sound, storytelling, and special effects. Just because it was first does not make it the best and it remains the most overrated movie in cinematic history. It is certainly a landmark in movie history, but definitely not the best movie of all time.
However, despite its overly high ranking, it is still an excellent movie with an engaging storyline that is a must see for anyone who considers themselves a lover of movies.
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