Very far from the greatest film of all time

Rating: 5/10 (11 June 1999)

I saw Citizen Kane at the Arts' Cinema here at Cambridge the other day, and I cannot see why people rave about it. Quite honestly, I don't even think it is a particularly great film, let alone "The Greatest Film of All Time". There are a few redeeming features of course (as you'd expect from Orson Welles) such as Welles' acting in some (not all) of the scenes, some excellent shots from the ground when Kane has just lost his campaign and his friend is drunk and they're talking for the last time in a long while. These few redeeming features hardly make up for the fact that it is poorly conceived and poorly executed. Most of the acting is fair to middle whilst some of it is downright bad, the plot could have been quite interesting; the downfall of Kane from idealistic youth to power crazy old man. However it is stretched well beyond its limits, each scene being told as many as 3 times. Some might retort that telling the scene 3 times is good (I've heard people mention the fragmented story, but just look at Pulp Fiction which does a considerably better job of this), but really it is nothing special and has been done much better by other films such as "Rashomon" by Akira Kurosawa where the story is retold by each of the participants each time significantly differently. And to top it all, the whole business of "Rosebud" is disappointing. Having an interesting twist at the end of a film is a good thing in general, but in Citizen Kane it is rather a pathetic twist. So the reporter says "I don't think one word could ever explain a man's life" and the word does in fact explain his life. Great. ONE good feature of this film, possibly enough for a short film, but not more. Okay, in a historical context, maybe that was something new and amazing at the time, but now it is old hat. Films like "The Usual Suspects" put it to shame, and if Citizen Kane is supposed to be the "Best Film of All Time", it can't by definition be taken in a historical context. A Touch of Evil is an infinitely superior film on every account and also by Orson Welles, and in my opinion a far better contender for the title of "Best Film of All Time" than Citizen Kane. If anyone can come up with some genuine reasons why this film is the best of all time, or even very good by modern standards, then please mail me, I'd love to know them, but if it is only good from a historical context, then fine, very interesting, and it's time to move on now.