It's gotta be a tough life when your best work is behind you at 25!

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2004)

There's no denying that 'Citizen Kane' is Orson Welles's greatest achievement as a filmmaker. Made when he was only 25 (it was released the same month he turned 26), he wrote, directed, and starred in it as newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, seemingly a man with everything one could ask for. Maybe everything but true happiness? Very early we see that Kane dies, and his last words were only a whisper, "Rosebud." But who, or what, was Rosebud? No one close to Kane had any idea. And, as the movie ends, only the viewing audience has a clue.
It always amazes me when a person, or a group, puts any effort into the argument of "which film is the greatest of all time." The way I see it, there's nothing riding on it. There are no generally-accepted criteria. The "experts" will never agree. It is a battle which has no conclusion. So I don't worry if 'Citizen Kane' is the number one. Most significantly, it was a pioneer of a number of different movie-making approaches, and has influenced countless films which came after it. It is perhaps ironic that Welles was 25 when he made 'Citizen Kane' and, while he had roles in over 100 movies, directed 38, and wrote or produced a large number, he will forever be remembered for this one.
I didn't have the opportunity to see 'Citizen Kane' in the theater, but I have seen it recently on DVD. While I appreciate the movie for what it is, I don't care too much for the political issues surrounding it in 1941. It is not the type of movie I will re-watch every year.