"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper".

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2011)

I'm still only a little over half way into reviewing AFI's list of Top 100 Films, and that list from 1997 is already pretty old. I've seen "Citizen Kane" before of course, but have never felt quite prepared to give it the treatment I thought it should deserve. So rather than worrying about it this time, I'm just going to jump right in. It's not like I'm going to have anything new or inspiring to say about the picture anyway. It has it's reputation, it has it's fans, and it has it's detractors.
For me, the picture doesn't grab me the way I think a 'Best' picture should. It's story is OK, but there are others that are better and that have entertained me more. Maybe by mentioning some of my favorites, I can provide some perspective. "Casablanca" is my all time favorite and has been for years. Then, in order, there's "On The Waterfront", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", and "The Day The Earth Stood Still" to round out the Top Five.
There are some elements of course that lend to the film's reputation. I'll second the camera work and lighting, and something that no one has mentioned (at least I haven't read it anywhere), is the unique kind of juxtaposition we see with Charles Foster Kane in a balcony scene alongside Adolph Hitler. I also thought the aging sequence involving Kane (Orson Welles) and Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore) was remarkably well done over it's span of six different time frames. But it's not enough. Not enough to merit Best Picture of all Time.
I certainly don't think it's a dog either. For Orson Welles to direct and act in this picture at the age of twenty five might merit him a standing even greater than the film. It was an outstanding achievement by any comparison, and he deserves the accolades. It's hard for me to imagine that kind of talent in someone so young, so handing out that accolade seems well deserved and the right thing to do.
I'm not of the opinion that I'll never watch the film again either. I've seen it three times now, and it does seem to have it's effect with age, not the picture's age, but my age. As long as it keeps getting better with time, I'll continue to give it a look every now and then.