surprised and disappointed

Rating: 4/10 (15 September 2016)

If you consider just the content, then all this movie does is make the following point: Charles Foster Kane wanted to be big and important to all American people, however he had nothing to give, he just had a lot of money. I should rather say that the movie hammers this point home, since the above point is stated explicitly by Kane's best friend and by his second wife (and probably one other person, I didn't want to take the time to check). Just in case you wouldn't get the message.
This movie is in my opinion crude and simplistic. We are dragged through the life of Kane at high speed. The movie doesn't flow naturally, there is no real development. It feels like nothing happens, you just get a single idea pushed down your throat. Throughout the movie there is the same atmosphere of doom and of emptiness. Even as a young man Kane is not an idealist. None of the characters is given any depth, there is no one you can identify yourself with or sympathise with.
The only quality of the movie lies in the camera work, the tricks with the lighting and the music. This should make it interesting for movie directors and people interested in the technical side of film making. I suppose it's is interesting to see how Welles manages to create a certain atmosphere in this way, but since it is always the same atmosphere, this is in my opinion rather limited.
I cannot possibly understand why this is considered the best movie ever made. The only (unsatisfactory) possible explanation I could come up with was: a) The average person is far more visual than me, or easier satisfied with single impressions, b) People like to parrot the "experts".