"Rosebud"

Rating: 7/10 (3 August 2019)

Based on the life of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, "Citizen Kane" is Orson Welles' debut splash in Hollywood and the one that had the most impact in his career. Acting, writing and directing, Welles plays Charles Foster Kane, the publishing tycoon who builds an empire and creates a fortune only to lose everything that matters to him in the end. Chronicling Kane's personal life from his humble beginnings to his rise as one of the world's most powerful and influential men, Welles depicts his subject's highs and lows in matters private and public. Among the most innovative films in cinema history, Welles highlights space, odd camera angles and an immediate, crude style to the acting which makes the film more modern and realistic than most films of the time. Unfortunately the film is not interesting enough to sustain its strengths and Kane's story spirals into tedium and banality. A landmark in cinema history and one of the most overrated films ever made, "Citizen Kane" is one flick where watching it once is more than enough.