A great film is rarely a simple film

Rating: 10/10 (12 September 1999)

I am quite aware of the backlash that many IMDb members have made against "Citizen Kane". I suspect that these members feel angered that "Kane" is so often referred to as the best film ever made, and either they dismiss it from the start or (more likely) they watch it once, don't understand it and assume that if they didn't understand or enjoy anything on the first viewing then the movie must be boring, pointless and overrated.

"Citizen Kane" is my favorite film of all-time, in my opinion the best film ever made on this planet. But I didn't understand most of it the first time I saw it, and I found myself bored with the movie much of the time. When I rented it again over a year later, I ended up watching it four times in as many nights, each time gaining more insight, admiration and, yes, enjoyment. In all, I have watched "Kane" seven or eight times, and each viewing is more stimulating and fun than the last.

One thing I have discovered about cinema is that the greatest movies are the ones which you don't understand completely or even at all the first time you see them. But there is something or some things in those films which you enjoy a great deal, things which lead you to give them another chance. "Citizen Kane" is a complex movie, in direction, storyline, characterization and symbolism. It's complexities also make it one of the most rewarding experiences known on celluloid.

I know that dismissing those who have dispareged "Kane" as idiots would be counterproductive to getting them to see the film. Most (if not all) of them are not idiots and are in fact intelligent and perfectly capable of understanding and liking the film. To those people, I say give "Citizen Kane" another chance. In fact, give it two or three or however many chances necessary. You will be vastly enriched for it.