Citizen Kane

Rating: 10/10 (9 March 2017)

At some point in their journey through film, every lover of cinema will attempt to critically evaluate Citizen Kane. The pantheon of film, Citizen Kane has, maybe the most prominent place in film history consistently topping lists as the best film of all-time. Starring Orson Welles in the titular role, alongside Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead, Citizen Kane follows the journey of a team of newspaper reporters desperate to find out the meaning of a powerful man's dying word. A technical wonder for the time it was made, and beyond, Citizen Kane has stood the test of time due to its gorgeous cinematography and boldly innovative camera work, blocking, and lighting. Admired and appreciated as a blueprint for an innumerable amount of films that came after it, Citizen Kane is not only a technical marvel but an ambitious project for the untested director, Welles, who was only 25 at the time of the film's production. What amounted to Welles' magnum opus, Citizen Kane is a film that's hard to top in technical achievement.
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top after his family struck it rich in mining resulting in Kane being sent away by his parents to a boarding school in care of the bank until he was old enough to be awarded his share. His mother thought it best that the bank raise him and position him for a life better than their country sensibilities would be able to provide. Once he turned 25, Kane gained access to his fortune and immediately bought a newspaper. Kane sought to not only seize the means by which people learned their news, but to seize the news itself. Kane wanted to control everything around him and shape events so they fit his world view. Despite his wealth and power, Kane lived an internally solitary life. The more papers he bought and the power he amassed, the more alone he became. Despite two marriages, Kane never fills the void he needed to fill with the people around him. Never quite realizing that his void also couldn't be filled with money, Kane meanders through life with his only goal seeming to be gaining influence. When the death of Charles Foster Kane stuns the world, it is his dying word "Rosebud" that captures attention. A team of reporters begins a journey to discover what rosebud meant to Kane by interviewing the people who took part in his life. By attempting to uncover the meaning of a powerful man's dying word, the reporters are granted intimate access to the life of Charles Foster Kane, a life that was as much of an enigma once more was revealed as it was when it was kept a secret.
It's been said many times before that Citizen Kane was a technological feat for the ages, and that statement rings true. It's self-evident that Orson Welles took bold chances and used lighting, blocking, and camera techniques scarcely used before his creation of Citizen Kane. As incredible as nearly every shot in the film is, I'll avoid redundancy by only highlighting the shots that really knocked me over, figuratively. There is a heavy reliance upon glass throughout the film which I found extraordinary. Mirrors and windows play a huge role in the film, with Welles himself usually being framed by a window or looking through one. The most notable shot in the film and one of the most remembered shots in cinema history takes place with Charles Foster Kane, as a child, playing outside in the snow while his parents talk with a bank representative about where Kane is going to be sent. There is an exceptionally wonderful use of foreground, middle ground, and background as the audience sees Kane, framed by a window, with his mother banker and father comprising the rest of the shot. Everyone knows the shot, it's gorgeous, and a technical feat for anyone, especially the fledgling director Welles was. Another fantastic window shot shows Kane talking to his friend and confidant Jedediah Leland about his hopes to buy more and more papers and increase circulation at each one of the papers he owns. Kane looks through the window with a childlike excitement written on his face energized by the idea of being someone important and influencing the very members of the community he sees from his window. This scene is powerful in illustrating Kane's desire to wield influence and shows the power of the window he is looking out from as both a way to see those around him and Kane himself. Another powerful scene involving windows shows Kane framed in a window while going over more plans with his associates to increase his paper's circulations. Kane is again seen with emboldened confidence, yet he has the naivety of a child, wanting respect and praise, and seeming eager to please those around him. Once again at the office, just after Kane has bought another paper, we see his reflection in the window dancing along with a party he has thrown in celebration of his monetary investments. Jedediah is seen in the frame discussing whether or not Kane is making positive investments and if he will be able to keep up his current pace. This scene is powerful because we see such jubilation from Kane's reflection that appears ominous due to the camera angle with which the audience sees it. because the camera is positioned chest level with Jedediah, Kane's reflection is behind him, leaving the audience to wonder how long Kane's happiness will last. The power of the window in this scene leaves the audience wondering if happiness is something that is only in the past tense of Kane's life.