Posts
This was
the first time I saw this 1941 Orson Welles film. Herman J. Mankiewicz and
Orson Welles are the credited screenplay writers, and the three uncredited
writers are Roger Q. Denny, John Houseman and Mollie Kent. Three of the movie’s
stars are Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten and Dorothy Comingore. I had always heard
it’s a great movie, and Rotten Tomatoes has it at 100 percent fresh. After
watching it, I agree that it is a fantastic movie. I was really interested in
the life of the main character, especially since I studied journalism in
college. The one thing that hindered the experience was knowing the big spoiler
of the whole film. It was interesting knowing the big secret all along while
the characters of the film never found it out.
"Citizen Kane" starts with the death of Charles
Foster Kane (Welles), a newspaper tycoon. His dying word, “Rosebud,” sparks
intrigue for the reporters of his newspaper, leading to an investigation of
Kane’s life. They interview people who knew him to figure out “Rosebud,” and
flashbacks are used often to show Kane’s life through the years. The audience
is shown Rosebud at the very end.
The main
story of the movie is so simple, finding out about Rosebud. However, it’s handled
in a very interesting way. The flashbacks are very important in finding out about
the kind of person Kane was, even if they didn’t provide many clues about
Rosebud. At the beginning of the film, the reporters talked about how Kane’s
last words might have said a lot about who he was. By the end, after not
finding Rosebud, they decided maybe it wasn’t that important. It turns out, it
was very important to understanding Kane as a person. I’m a little torn about
the characters not learning the truth. I think it’s a shame Kane didn’t get that
resolution. However, it says a lot that even in death, he was misunderstood.
I usually
find it a little more difficult to get into older films and thoroughly enjoy
them like I should. The poorer quality of the film at that time makes it less
realistic looking than more recent films do, thus, making it harder for me to
get engrossed in them. I didn’t have that problem with this movie though. The
format of story telling was excellent, and the mystery of Rosebud kept me
interested.
I think the
acting was quite good as well. It was slightly over-dramatic for my taste, but
from what I have seen, that is just how people acted back then. Kane’s second
wife (Comingore) was probably the hardest one for me to take seriously. For the
most part, I believed the characters though, and that is a key part to a good
movie.
The sets
throughout the movie were great. I think they captured the scenes well and
added to the accounts told of Kane’s life. The music also matched well with the
tone and rhythm of the story.
It would
have been nice to see this movie when it was first made. Since it’s still great
today, it must have been even better at that time. The mystery of Rosebud has
become a huge spoiler. I wish I had seen this without knowing about Rosebud, so
the experience would have been even better. I agree with the high praise for
this movie and advise every movie fan to watch it.
