a great film

Rating: Null/10 (24 August 2003)

Its hard to believe that Orson Welles was only 25 or 26 when he wrote, directed and starred in Citizen Kane. It is also hard to believe that this film was not a box office hit when it was first released (Its A Wonderful Life wasn't either). I saw this film in a college class I took on movie making and thought it was wonderful. Time has not "dated" it at all. Its still as wonderful today as when it was first released. The opening is the best when they have that "news on the march" that details Kanes death and tumultuous life. Welles based Kane on William Randolph Hearst and his powerful newspapers did everything they could to stop it from being released. It was only with the passage of time that people realized how great it is. I for one loved the symbolism of "Rosebud". People say that it was only the name on his toy sled but it was more then that. Kane had achieved great wealth and power but died a bitter, lonely unhappy old man. All his wealth couldn't buy him happiness. In his last moments, he was thinking back to the simple joys of his childhood. In a sense that toy sled tossed into the fire was Kane's Paradise Lost. Orson made a bad mistake, he directed the greatest film of his career at the very beginning of his career and basically had no where to go but down. The Magnificent Ambersons, Journey Into Fear, The Stranger, The Lady From Shanghai, MacBeth, Othello, Mister Arkadian, Touch Of Evil, The Trial, Chimes At Midnight. Welles could never top Citizen Kane.