The BEST movie ever made??? Well, I'm not sure, but at least is one of them!

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2013)

Many critics today consider this the best movie ever made in the history of cinema. This statement has led many people today think the film is very overrated. Which statement is the right one it is impossible to say, but I think I can understand both opinions.
"Citizen Kane" begins after the death of the journalism magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), who moments before dying uttered the word "Rosebud". Days after of journalism hype over the news of his death, the journalist Jerry Thompson (William Alland) is sent by his boss to investigate the life of Kane, in order to discover the meaning of his last word, in which no one knows. Then he begins to interview all living people who knew and met Kane. Going from his best friend Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten); his secretary Bernstein (Everett Sloane); the 2nd ex-wife Susan Alexander Kane (Dorothy Comingore). The journalist begins to discover that he plunged into the life of a lonely man who from childhood is obliged to follow the will of others. Nobody around Kane cared about him, and then he began looking through the acquisition of things the worship from the people, but it all led to his tragic and painful end.
Many said at the time that Orson Welles (who also directed and wrote the film) based the life of Kane on a real tycoon from journalism William Randolph Hearst. Welles at the time denied such claims publicly, especially after Hearst negatively criticized the film saying it would denigrate his image. But the comparisons are almost obvious: Hearst was known to have transformed the simple New York Morning Journal to a sensationalistic newspaper (buy news from other newspapers or invent them) the same thing Kane did with the newspaper "Inmaker"; Hearst built a castle with his name, the Hearst castle in Florida, and Kane made "Xanadu" in the Gulf of Mexico, both Hearst and Kane had nationalists and communists concepts (they were part of a political party but then denounced them).
The critics doesn't idolize this movie for nothing. Mainly because it is WAY ahead of its time, to imitate the life of a tycoon on a fiction film was almost crime at the time, but not only that. Welles gives the film a magnificent direction with gigantic footage such filming today require multiple cameras (more than 20) and at the time they used a very limited number (less than 5). Including a amazing photography and beautiful cinematographic with spectacular scenery.
Not only in direction but Welles gives the film one of the best screenplays ever written, primarily because it can be smart and fun giving a modern language and humorous moments. But above all, gives a timeless narrative to the history, that is, it doesn't follow a single timeline, going back and forward to the past and the future all the time telling pieces of Kane's life from childhood to the arrival to wealth. This technique was very advanced and almost impossible to do at the time. And along the incredible story of Charles Kane, the film uses elements of politics, romance, and even musical. And for several moments, it critiques the rich society and American politics (another thing that at the time was almost a crime).
But of course, today many people will find problems in the film compared to today films. It is almost inevitable a film having problems, and "Kane" is no exception of this. The main problem is with so many characters in the film, somehow it fails in making us care about them (except for Kane), but once again we have to have in consideration the constraints of the script and cast at the time.
Speaking of cast, that was also a great revolution. All actors were newcomers, making their first appearances in movies. Not only this fact, but also the fact that they are all extraordinary. Since Joseph Cotten and Dorothy Comingore simply superb, but who stands out is Welles himself. He in their 20s, considered the wonder boy, then took his skills as an theater actor and radio announcer and not only give a excellent directing and writing to the film but also a magnificent performance from start to finish.
People have to take in consideration the time that the film was made and not criticize it comparison to today. Early there, it was the beginning of the 2nd world war with much of the economy focused on armaments, Orson Welles with a magnificent direction, superb script and splendid performance managed to make a mark in the history of cinema that should be remembered forever!
10/10