Listen to a crotchety old guy when he's talking at you, whippersnappers

Rating: 10/10 (18 October 1998)

Any (re)viewers who came away with negative impressions of Kane probably made the mistake of watching the film on video. You should never approach a classic film in anything but a proper movie theatre. Would you watch "2001" at home on a 14" screen? You would! Why? Watching 2001 on anything other than a full-size movie screen, or even better an IMAX screen, is a waste of time. Its grandeur cannot be appreciated under home conditions, pausing the film every 10 minutes to check on the laundry.
Citizen Kane has a lot more plot than 2001, but the problem is the same. Everything that's daring and exciting about the direction -- the crazy camera angles, the freakish tracking shots, the wildly imaginative changes in mood and lighting -- you don't get anything of that on a tiny screen. All you get at home are the clever plot, brilliant dialogue, and great performances, but even so I find Kane boring at home too. Oh, and don't forget the subversive assault on the necessarily irresponsible use of corporate power. Off hand, I can't think of a single Welles film that works on a TV screen. Well, maybe Touch of Evil, since it's so heavily plotted. But with Ambersons, Lady From Shanghai, The Trial, Chimes At Midnight, to cite just a few quickly, you're just ruining it for yourself getting your first exposure at home.
There's a second-run movie theatre somewhere near you that needs your support and probably shows nice, scratchy prints of Kane, exactly the kind that everyone who loves Kane saw their first time.
I'm one of the people who thinks the AFI list is a bad joke which can safely be ignored. By accident, some great films did manage to wind up on the list. Citizen Kane is one of them.
As our Neapolitan compatriot, who most graciously excluded his own country's Ladri di biciclette from consideration, says, Citizen Kane is "il più grande film della storia del Cinema". I think it's the greatest in cinematic history as well. Yeah, and it's boring at home.