Greatest movie of all time?

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2006)

The film opens with a an panned shot of Xanadu, newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane's huge estate. Xanadu is a castle, amassed with millions of dollars' worth of statues and other worthless objects which were never truly appreciated. It is evident already in the first scene that despite his great fortune, Mr. Kane was never truly happy. Our first introduction the man himself is seeing the dying man examine a crystal ball. He drops it and it smashes, and one word is heard - "Rosebud..." Immediately we see quick scenes of newspaper headings of Kane's death, all on the first page, showing the obvious importance of this man to society.
The rest of the movie consists of reporters interviewing people close to Kane in order to find out the meaning of his last words. From his ex-wife to his butler, they all tell their stories, flashing back to Kane's life and showing us how he built himself up to greatness in the newspaper world. However, nothing is revealed about the word "rosebud," possibly indicating that like life itself, some things can never be explained.