Still Great

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2001)

This may not be the greatest film ever made, or even the greatest one made in Hollywood (the latter nod goes to The Godfather, in my opinion). But 60 years after it was made, it still stands up throughout, from beginning to end, as a great film. Most of the films of that period have serious flaws that have become more apparent with age, parts where you have to make allowances for the time and the place and say, "well, despite the handicaps they were laboring under, they did pretty good." Citizen Kane asks for no quarter and gives none. It's as fresh today as it was when it was made. In the final analysis, it's not the much ballyhooed technical innovations like the ceilings and the depth of field shots that make it a stunning achievement, it's the story and the characters and the magnificent portrayal by Welles.