Sophomoric gargoyle

Rating: 2/10 (19 July 2000)

I like Orson Welles as a person. He was warm, witty, intelligent, a great conversationalist. So, why do I have such an intense dislike for his entire body of work? I find his films nauseatingly morbid and draining. These very, very dark films make the darkest film noir look like a light comedy. My least favorite of his films is "Citizen Kane", a veritable compendium of everything that should be avoided in films: time spans that are too long, villainous heroes, insufferable pretentiousness and gross overreaching. This film unintentionally glorifies Hearst. He did not merit such a hatchet job. It honors him by implying there is complexity in the man. One gets the feeling that Welles secretly admired Hearst, and that behind the critique is a bit of envy.