The most empathy i've felt for a character in a while

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2014)

Citizen Kane is widely regarded as 'the greatest film of all time'. After seeing it at the top of the American Film Institute 100 list i decided to actually watch it and i can safely say that after i watched it, you can certainly see why. spoilers ahead so if you haven't seen it don't read on.
The film starts off with a few dark and dreary shots of Xanadu, (essentially a palace owned by Charles foster Kane) building up tension before zooming close to the small snow dome ball he has in his hand, Then he utters 'Rosebud' the most famous line in movie history. The snow dome ball is then dropped and the story begins.
After a short documentary on Charlie Kane has been shown the men at the magazine begin to sought after the meaning of his final utterance.
Charlie Kane's parents inherited a mine which happened to be rich in gold. His parents sign the bill to Walter parks thatcher which gives him the authority to raise Charles in extreme luxury. This scene is very sad indeed the boy is reluctant to leave his parents but in the end succumbed to Mr. thatcher and sets away with him we see a close up of Charlie's sled which then becomes neglected in the snow.
That is a huge scene and a sad one at that. The investigative reporter Thompson triggers every flashback by questioning his old alcoholic wife Susan Alexander Kane, his old wilting friend Jedediah Leland and his rich associate Mr. Bernstein.
We learn about his beginning in the publishing business from Mr. Bernstein from when he took over the inquirer to the marriage of the presidents niece. When the flashback is over Bernstein says "maybe rosebud was something he lost, Kane was a man who lost everything he had" At this point we are intrigued to learn more about Mr Kane who seems to be an enigma.
The story then builds character depth for Charlie and the rest making us feel a lot along the way, i can say that the cinematography is a huge part in this and the way Welles acts as Charlie Kane is exceptional, the supporting cast are great too Joseph Cotten puts in a key performance. latter stages of the film will now be explored.
The penultimate flashback about old Charlie Kane and the rockiness of his relationship with Susan, she sits alone in Xanadu playing jigsaw puzzles to pass the time feeling lonely and bored the subsequent shot, she begins to argue with Charlie saying that despite having all these items bought for her none of them mean anything implying Charlie has bribed her into making her think he is a generous man who cares and making her love him, the next shot shows Susan leaving Charlie it then backs out of the flashback to Susan telling Thompson that she advises him to speak to Charlie's butler at Xanadu he sets off to find him.
The final flashback is triggered by Raymond the butler, we see a wonderfully acted scene by Orson Welles trash up the room throwing everything down in it's path bed sheets, shelves, mirrors, everything you could think of apart from one thing the Small glass snow dome, Charlie picks this up and says "rosebud" we know from this shot that because it stopped the crazy outburst it is something extremely sentimental to him but at this point we are still not sure exactly what rosebud means. The members of the magazine are reunited with Thompson at Xanadu which is completely full of statues and other material objects purchased by Charlie Kane, They ask Thompson did you find out what rosebud means ? he responds "no i didn't, i don't think a single word can describe a single mans life my guess is that rosebud was something he lost or something he couldn't get, anyway i don't think it would have explained anything". The famous shot of the camera slowly making it's way past all of the junk to the sled he once had as a child, we here the butler say "burn all this useless junk" the sled is then thrown into the fire where we see the close up of 'Rosebud' the paint then curls and the film ends.
This film gives me a huge bone chilling feeling every time i watch it to the final scene where we see rosebuds meaning it fills us with deep sadness and huge empathy towards Charles foster Kane, we found out that rosebud symbolised innocence, a memory of a once normal childhood playing in the snow, youth and happiness.
This film tells us that although you can be the richest man in America you can still be extremely lonely, happiness can not be fulfilled purely by money nor can it buy love or friendship there is a famous line in the film where Charles Kane says "You know Mr. Bernstein if i hadn't have been really rich i might have been a really great man" Charles Kane just wanted to lead a happy life like most of us.