there was one drawback

Rating: Null/10 (24 July 2004)

I saw this film last night for the first time. I can certainly appreciate the life story of a man who becomes increasingly closed, controlling, and frustrated in his search for love and adoration, maybe for himself.
The one flaw I felt the movie had was that it focused too much on Kane's personal life and not much on his public life. And what is shown of his public life is equivocal.
His "principles" published in an early issue of his paper were hardly convincing given his previous desire to harass some average Joe for good copy. Maybe this is the point, that he was a fellow that never had principles, but then one wonders why his friend was so easily taken in by this melodramatic gesture (publishing the principles) when it is really just a ploy. As an old man, this friend says Kane never had any principles. But that seems fairly clear from the beginning. So, though the friend perceives a change and at one point openly voices worries about a change in the man, there is really no change. It is all a bit undramatic from the point of view of Kane's public life. This makes the film more realistic, of course. He doesn't really change just becomes more of what he always was in the negative ways. But it makes the movie less dramatic. There was also too much time spent on the second marriage. This part dragged.
Certainly the film portrays sterility in leadership from a class "born to rule". In a deep way Kane did not want to rule and did not want to play the role set out for him. There was the lack of passion coming from a road not freely chosen. Much of his early journalistic efforts are made to thumb his nose at his benefactor and all he stands for. One even if he half intentionally sabotaged his political career. He wants what we all want it turns out, acceptance of himself for himself. And the character is interesting. But I think they could have done more with the public career of the man to give the film more impact.
As for Rosebud, I think it represents the path not taken--not what he lost or some search for love, but simply the man he would have been if had stayed with his parents and chosen his life more freely rather than having fortune thrust upon him.