Citizen Kane Analysis

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2020)

Citizen Kane has incredible cinematic components built around an amazing story. The film is filled with non diegetic music that expresses the tone of a particular scene; also used in transitional moments, fading between scenes. For example, when Walter Thatcher is reading the newspaper headlines managed by Charlie Kane, the music is loud and fast, expressing how ridiculous the headlines are.
The camera work and editing throughout the movie is quite smooth. The fade in and out between scenes, long shots, and smooth point of view transitions really make this film feel unique for the era it was released in. For example, during the scene when Charlie's mother was finalizing the deal with Mr. Thatcher, there was an extremely long shot that covered a good chunk of space and time; the movement of the camera during this scene was extremely smooth.