Film Review: Citizen Kane (1941)

This write up is likewise a film review. I hope you will enjoy reading and my insightful observation of the Hollywood classic ‘Citizen Kane.’

Rosebud!!!
It is a dialogue of one of the most famous films in the history of cinema. The real film lovers know the film name as soon as they see the word Rosebud. The film is ‘Citizen Kane’- the masterpiece of Orson Welles.

Rosebud is not just a dialogue. It’s something meaningful than that. The essence of the whole film hides inside this word.

Primary Information of Citizen Kane

More than 75 years passed since the film has released. In the meantime, hundreds of masterpieces have been released but critics nowadays still enjoy the 1941 black and white film. Many directors still follow the pattern of the making of this film which was the first film of a 26 year’s old inexperienced young director!

Orson Wells was simultaneously the film’s producer, co-cinematographer, director, and lead star. The first premiere of this American drama film was held on May 1, 1941, at the Palace Theater in New York.

Some movies are immortal for their unique storytelling. In some cases, the characters get a place in the pages of history by impressive performance. Sometimes the film making technique and management immortalize it. But when all the mixture poured into one container, a masterpiece like Citizen Kane will come out. Let’s take a look at the brief plot of this masterpiece.

Plot

The story of the movie revolves around the life and work of a character named Charles Foster Kane. Kane began his career in the publishing business out of a sense of responsibility towards society and ideology, but gradually he began to work only for the sake of power. Kane was the publisher of 11 newspapers. He married twice. He first married the niece of the President of the United States to gain power.

After divorcing his first wife, he married an opera singer. He then tried to establish his wife as a star in all his publications. This forced attempt made his wife a funny object to everyone. The stubborn, dominant Kane’s second marriage also did not last.

Kane’s money and power did not make him happy because he lost idealism in his life. Just before his death, Kane uttered the word “rosebud.” Then a journalist tries to find out the reason for pronouncing this last word. The plot progresses through the research of this news reporter. Most of the scenes showed multiple narrators and the use of flashbacks.

Shot by Shot Film Analysis

Below are some notable camera angles and details of the composition shot by shot:

Identity of Creativity and Intelligence

The identity of creativity and intelligence in the shots was there from the first sequence of Citizen Kane. A trespass board, then a blank cutter without a trespass board, and finally a picture of the main gate of the castle. The presentation of Kane’s Xanadu castle is presented through dissolve. From long shots of Janadu’s reflection in the water, the camera enters the castle with a few mid shots and close shots. Each shot slowly brings the viewer closer to Xanadu. A simple and elegant light source is noticeable in the frame. What a wonderful way to introduce the audience to Kane’s last residence.

The Meaningful Extreme Close Shot

One of the most famous extreme close shots in film history is the Rosebud shot, a word uttered from Kane’s lip with a mustache. This is an important word that puts mystery at the heart of the story. The whole film focuses the viewer’s attention until the last scene to reveal this mystery. Snowflex’s rotation, falling from Kane’s hand after uttering the word Rosebud and then the POV shot of entering the nurse from broken snow flex- all these shots create a kind of psychological curiosity among the audience. The whole sequence was a metaphorical presentation of distorted reality and the result of nostalgic Kane’s life.

Foreground and Background Focus

The scene is set with Kane’s mother, Mary, in the middle. Citizen Kane, on the other hand, does not focus entirely on a particular character in a scene. To break the conventional rules by focusing the background along with the foreground was the very first practice of that era that Citizen Kane film did tremendously.

Creative Camera Movement

The creative camera movement can help the viewer to go deeper into every scene of the film. This practice became universal through the Citizen Kane film. For example, imagine the scene of Kane’s childhood life. Kane’s mother, father, and thatcher were visible in the frame also focusing on the playing kid Kane with the snow outside the window. Welles invented two things in the part where Kane’s mother moved away from the window and sat in the chair next to the table. The first is to make everything on the movie set look completely realistic. To do this, he used a special table that was able to move in half from the middle and reassemble. As a result, the table did not cause any obstruction when the camera was pulled back and the table looked right when the camera was immovable. The use of deep focus in the foreground and background in this sequence was truly admirable.

Shot as a metaphor

There was a mid-shot where Kane and his 1st wife were talking to each other face to face maintaining a long distance. Through the mid-shot, the distance between the husband-wife was depicted. This sequence ends with a dolly shot. The space distance between them is highlighted as a metaphor for a faded relationship.

Low Dutch Angle

In favor of winning the election as governor, Kane made a storm of campaign speeches. In this sequence, Welles used a low angle dutch shot. This low angle shot magnifies the powerful Kane’s influence. Then there was a long shot that highlighted the full picture of the speaker assembly and the importance of the upcoming election.

Power of Low Angle Shot

Jim W. Gettys, Kane’s main political rival came to him and told his wife the story of Kane’s affair with singer Susan Alexander. He threatens Kane to withdraw from the election or else the story of the affair will spread to all newspapers. But the stubborn Kane informed his firm decision. After hearing this Jim went away. When he was coming down the stairs Kane started screaming out him and scolding him loudly. In this entire sequence, there were some good mid shots, a low angle shot from the bottom of the stairs, and a top angle view shot. The DOP captured all shots in this sequence beautifully to express the crisis of Kane’s first marital life and indicate the ruin of Kane’s political life.

Symbolic Shot

Can you remember that scene? When Charles Foster Kane heard reading the news of the confiscation of all his newspaper business. Then he started walking slowly towards the huge windows next to the fireplace. At first, the windows looked smaller than him but slowly they seemed to get bigger than him as if Kane’s body was shrinking gradually. This shot symbolizes Kane’s gradual losing control of all his business and getting powerless.

Final Words 

However, there were many artistic shots besides these in the entire film. Film critics elected Citizen Kane as the best film total five times. Sight and Sound magazine’s film critics also voted for this film. The film gained praise many times for its innovative cinematography, wonderful use of music, and narrative structure. The film became unforgettable not only for the artistic sides but also for its educative meaningful message.

After the release of this film, the strategy of making films changed a lot. It took another step towards becoming a film industry in the golden era of Hollywood. Orson Welles immortal creation ‘Citizen Kane’ affected also legendary directors like François Truffaut, Martin Scorsese, and Spielberg got influenced So what’s wrong with calling it the best movie of all time?