Fascinating--But Increasingly Problematic With The Passage of Time

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2005)

In order to survive the passing years, a film must be able to transcend the limitations of the era in which it was made. This is a difficult test, particularly for films that largely rely upon new technology and innovative technique for impact: as these new effects are seen more often in other films, we come to accept them as standard, and in consequence the film that introduced them no longer has same the freshness as once it did.
To a certain extent CITIZEN KANE faces precisely this problem. A pioneer in the use of deep focus photography and in innovative editing, KANE stunned audiences of its day with a powerful visual and aural montage. Some forty years later, however, most filmgoers have had at least some opportunity to see other and later films that at least approximate KANE's effects; consequently, these elements lack the same impact they once had, and the film must increasingly rely upon story, script, and performances for continued appeal. And it is here that KANE runs into a bit of trouble.
The story KANE tells is quite cold, and although the script has incredible precision, bite, and complexity, it ultimately presents its characters as second-rate personalities who prove unable to transform their lives into anything beyond the pathos they so deplore. They are not likable enough to be sympathetic, they are not dark enough to fully stir our curiosity, and for all Charles Foster Kane's millions they ultimately emerge as merely so many opportunity-squandering unfortunates. As such, while they certainly engage the viewer in an intellectual sense, they seldom engage the viewer in an emotional one; this coupled with the fact that the film's technique no longer offers quite the same shock-of-the-new as once it did makes CITIZEN KANE increasingly problematic with the passage of time.
There is a tremendous amount to admire in CITIZEN KANE, but with each passing year it becomes more and more of a historian's darling and less and less of a film that remains able to engage a purely casual viewer at all levels. Even so, it is (and will no doubt for the foreseeable future remain) a landmark film, one that will be worthy of considerable reverence for many years to come.
Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer