The Underlying Myth of the Every Man

Rating: 10/10 (21 June 2007)

This review is part serious and at times frivolous in the enjoyment of the film, but it is my account, and I am deeply moved by this film after having seen it now in it's entirety.
Rating 10/10 There is so much history behind this film.
The light that goes out perhaps indicating we may not enter so hastily, but as the light slowly returns alight, perhaps we may gain entry slowly, through the passage of this film? One must be reminded of Coleridge's famous poem, Xanadu which is not only quoted here but recreated in flesh, like an edifice of archetypal power and myth.
What's unfortunate about the film is the huge empty space between Charlie as a child and after he takes over the family empire.
What makes Charlie the way he is? What drives him? What are his ideals and where did he learn them? Why does he demand his wife to sing? Why was Emily so quick to believe Gettys and not stand by her own husband? And would there not be some liability after the fact and hearing concerning the libelous blackmail by Getty? It all seemed too easy, too simple and unrealistic. Why do they hole up in Xanadu when they can do anything they want.
Then it hit me, Susan is one of the unicorns from Candy Mountain... and I have the proof! First, Candy Mountain Charlie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus Note that every time the unicorn says Charlie! it sounds exactly like Susan. Also note when Susan says Goodbye Charlie it's just like when the unicorn says goodbye to Charlie at the end of the video.
That aside, the review continues.
Why is it the single thing Charles Foster Kane recalls in his demise is rosebud? It is the word of a man who has never truly loved another, or found a deeper truth in their life and that is truly sad. For what is a man that he gain the entire world but lose his own soul? The missing piece that of Rosebud is perhaps the innocence of youth, that folly of being a child when ignorance is bliss, and we still believe in the illusions set before us and our vision is of magical things and high ideals.
Perhaps we all have our Rosebuds, and in the end our memories are either upheld, values restored daily in our endeavors, or they are lost the smoke and dust of our forgotten and meaningless lives.
Now even though there is much left unstated, I have to admit this is a brilliant and important movie, one which tells a story of not just one man, but of all mankind.