A Classic Story Of Power And The Press.

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2013)

Citizen Kane is the motion picture which, since its release, has been widely regarded by almost all critics, filmmakers & even many viewers around the world as the greatest film of all time. And although I agree to some extent that, purely on a technical scale, this might be the most influential picture ever made but based solely on its plot & story, there are far better examples in cinema than this one.
Still, there is no denying that Citizen Kane is a boldly crafted feature which not only defied all the typical methods of filmmaking that were in use at its time of production but also ended up completely rewriting the manuals of filmmaking in the process. The film tells the story of a publishing tycoon whose death makes news reporters scramble around to discover the meaning of his final utterance.
While there is a lot to take in here, the best part of Citizen Kane remains its stupefying cinematography & the overall structure of its narration while the worst was, in simple words & in just my opinion, an insufferable boring story. So boring that it took me 6 unsuccessful attempts to finish it. But once it accomplished that, the end result was surprisingly better than what I was expecting from it.
The film presents an unusual portrayal of a larger than life character told through different people & is wonderfully assisted by its carefully crafted screenplay, innovative sharp focus photography, non-linear narration, inventive use of make-up, sound & transition effects, splendid score & a strong central performance by Orson Welles in front as well as behind the camera.
On an overall scale, Citizen Kane is arguably the most experimental cinema of its era that has somehow managed to stand the test of time and is certainly one of world cinema's highly influential & important works whose significance to the film medium is simply as mysterious & profound as the symbolism behind the word, "Rosebud".