"Citizen Kane" **** (out of ****)
I've held off reviewing "Citizen Kane" for quite some time now. It is not because I don't like the movie, I do. I even understand that it has been repeatedly acknowledged as one of the greatest American films ever made. And I think it deserves to be. But, there is something intimidating about reviewing it. What can I add to the discussion about "Citizen Kane"? What can I say that hasn't already been said? People who know much more about movies and who have seen more than me have already talked about it. I can tell you nothing new.
With these thoughts on my mind I decided the only thing I can do is pretend nothing else has been written and simply give you all the information and insights you already know. There is no new approach to reviewing this film.
Orson Welles is a man of mystery. He led quite the life. After his mother died at an early age he and his father traveled around the world. When his father died, Welles continued travelling. At one point he found himself in Spain where he was a bullfighter. He came to New York eventually and with John Houseman formed the Mercury Theatre in 1937. Many of the actors in "Citizen Kane" were part of the theatre.
Most people believe the character Charles Foster Kane (played by Welles) was based on William Randolph Hearst. Others say though this isn't fair. While there are elements of Heart, Welles was drawing inspiration from several people including Howard Hughes and Samuel Insull (who actually built the Chicago Civil Opera House for his daughter).
Still it is said Heart took the film to heart. None of his papers reviewed the movie and it wasn't until the mid-70s that one of Hearst newspapers finally did. There is one line Welles gives which many connect with Hearst. After Kane takes over the Inquirer, his paper is reporting on the Spanish-American War when a correspondent writes that there is no war going on Kane replies " you provide the prose poems, I'll provide the war." The quote attributed to Hearst is, when he heard about the Spanish-American War he told reporters "you furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war."
I don't think I have to really describe the plot of "Citizen Kane" and to be honest, I really don't want to. I'll give a brief run-down of the plot. The film goes over the life on newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane, who has just died. A reporter is sent to find out the meaning of his last words, "rose-bud".
The film starts off with newsreel of Kane's life. The fascinating thing about the movie is, everything in the plot is basically explained in 5 minutes. The rest of the film simply rehashes what was said earlier. Only now when we see the same moments again they fit better into the puzzle of Kane's life. And by the end of the film, it ends where it began. The first and last image we see in the film is of a sign, "no trespassing". The film comes full circle.
The newsreel sequence is great in the way the camera is fluid and makes transitions so easily. First we see what looks like church windows then a small home covered in snow, then it turns out that is a snow globe that Kane is holding. The edits are fast and modern. They call attention to themselves. I also love the transitions when Joseph Cotton, as Kane's old friend Jedediah Leland, talks about the meaning of rose-bud. The edits consist of fading out from Cotton to a flashback and vice-versa. It is brilliant!
Another memorable scene is when we see Kane as a boy as his mother (played by Agnes Moorehead!) signs papers over to a bank giving up her guardianship. The scene starts with us seeing Kane playing in the snow, then the camera pans back and we are seeing Kane within the small frame of a window, the camera pans back further and now we see the whole window. So we are working on a frame within a frame within a frame. The whole time the camera has the parents in the forefront with Kane in the background. This is a technique known as deep focus. "Citizen Kane" is credited as being the first film to use this device of keeping the foreground, middle ground and back ground all in focus.
What is also great about "Citizen Kane" is the use of space. Dorothy Comingore plays Kane's second wife (supposedly based on Hearst's mistress Marion Davies) Susan Alexander Kane. She wants to be singer, so when Kane builds an opera house for her, he expects her to keep up with it, but it is revealed she doesn't have much talent. After they get into a fight Welles stages scenes in their mansion where there is space between them. Kane sits at one end of the room while Susan is at the other. At least ten feet separates them. It visually helps display the emotional distance between them.
When "Citizen Kane" was released in 1941 it was a box-office flop. It was a film Welles both praised and cursed. Welles he said he had the greatest contract anyone could ever want. He had complete creative control. When the film bombed it hurt Welles' career as a filmmaker. He would forever have problems finding money and distribution for his work. He would also be accused of never making a better film.
And "Citizen Kane" is considered the granddaddy of first films. Every director gets their first film compared to "Citizen Kane". It is the symbol of what could be accomplished.
But Welles was unfairly damned. Besides "Kane" he made several other classics. His "Touch of Evil" comes to mind, "F for Fake", "Chimes At Midnight", "Mr. Arkadin" and "The Trial" are a few examples.
"Citizen Kane" is also the ultimate reason to hate the Academy Awards. And if you read this blog, you'll know I have nothing but contempt for the academy. "Kane" was nominated for 9 Oscars and won one. It is rumored every time the film's title was mentioned it was "booed". The one award the film won was for its screenplay, which was written by Herman Mankiewicz and Welles but lost the "best picture" Oscar to the sentimental "How Green Was My Valley". Now "Valley" is a great film, it really is, but it is in no way comparable to "Citizen Kane". But you simply cannot make sense of what the academy does.
"Citizen Kane" is and will always be an inventive, entertaining and influential film. Perhaps one of the most influential films of the last century. It will forever be one of the masterpieces of cinema.
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