Rosebud

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2019)

"There's only one person in the world who's going to decide what I'm going to do and that's me."
When I first watched this movie, I barely made it to the end. Superb photography, direction, editing, music, a strong atmosphere, excellent study of personality ... and boring. For some reason, it was unbearably boring to me, and it completely sidelined all qualities. Whoever I told I didn't like the movie considered me a fool, and for years I couldn't bring myself to give it (or myself) a second chance. I made the same mistake with Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". After decades of quitting halfway through, when I finally watched it in its entirety, I came out of the theater thrilled. It motivated me to re-watch some more cult classics that I hastily wrote off. "Citizen Kane" didn't have nearly as strong an effect on me as "A Space Odyssey," but this time I saw it through without yawning and it left a much better impression than before. The objective qualities that make it a timeless masterpiece are undeniable, and now that I've read a bit about the film, I'm additionally impressed by some amazing facts. This is a Chaplin-like achievement for Orson Welles. He co-wrote, directed, starred and produced it at just 25, personally picking up the Academy Award for screenplay and nominations for directing (and this was his feature film directorial debut) and leading role, as well as 6 other nominations for the film, including the Best Picture. He was the first-ever to be nominated for the directing and leading role for the same movie. Movies "Stagecoach" (1939) and "Rebecca" (1940) had a major impact on Welles and many similarities in the story, set design, and shooting techniques can be seen in this film. There is a lot more interesting information that I read before I re-watched the film and that helped me to see it in a whole new light. Who knows, maybe after another viewing, it could go up to ten, but for now
8,5/10