A reason for high ranking

Rating: 10/10 (4 January 1999)

It's tough being number one, as this film is often ranked. Everyone likes to shoot at the top dog. But there is a test for the true movie fan.
Is this a movie that draws you back into it, time and again? Do you go back, looking for something new? And why do you keep going back? It can only be because there are revelations each time you see it. There is always something fresh, something worth catching. It is true that this movie was filmed for a '40s film audience, but the best movies seem to lock themselves into a time and we have no problem realizing that. "Maltese Falcon" was a '40s detective drama and we know detectives today would use a different approach. But we enjoy that film for the very reason it gives us a definite view of the '40s detective and his work. And the story is compelling. The same is true for "Citizen Kane." We see the life story of a contemporary man of the '30s and '40s, and from that story we can realize that what he finally values, upon his death, is not much different that what we grow to value in our late years. We can relate to his memories of youth. Welles, though a young man when he made 'Kane,' found the essence of life and magnified it on the screen. The acting is efficient, the setting is bigger than life, the use of the camera is innovative and still imitated, the story telling is timeless. Even "Pulp Fiction," which I consider to be the best film of the '90s, owes some debt to the story telling of "Citizen Kane." There have been many great films made since this one, but it was ground-breaking, and it remains fresh even though the plot is stuck in time.
Does it deserve to be call "the greatest film ever"? Why not? It deserves the honor as much as any film made before or since. Watch it again and see if you do not agree.