Citizen Kane Case

Citizen Kane is a 1941 film directed by Orson Welles. The film begins with a scene of a palace with a lit window in the tower. The shots continue to zoom in, until the audience sees the window and the light turns off. Orson Welles, often uses sound to change from one scene to the next. Without sound Citizen Kane would not have the same dramatic effect. In the beginning of the film, a transition between two scenes immediately attracts the attention of the audience. The sound embellishes on the importance of the particular scene. Afterwards, a snow globe is released from a hand and crashes on the floor. A new scene begins with a newsreel of Charles Kane's death. A narrator explains the ordeal around Kane's death which lasts for about 30 minutes. The real narrative begins, with a news reporter attempting to find out why Kane's last words were "rosebud". The reporter interviews many of Kane's associates, beginning with his second wife who boldly refuses to speak about Kane. Later, the reporter gains access to Thatcher's archives and finds information on Kane's childhood. He finds that Kane was a poor boy who was given to Thatcher in order to receive an education and live in the East. The story continues with various interviews with Kane's friends. With every interview, there is a flashback of Kane's life. We learn about Kane's newspaper tycoon, his political influence, his perfectionist personality, and his two failed marriages. However, nobody could explain the significance of "rosebud". The last scene ends with deceased Kane's personal items such as puzzles, trophies, and most importantly a sleigh being sold and discharged. The sleigh which was featured in the scene where Kane is a child moving to the east has an extreme close up and it displays "rosebud" conveying his childhood. Kane was known as a man who "lost everything", but despite of what people believed he missed whether it be a woman or fame, his true desire was to be a child again where everything was perfect.

Citizen Kane's story is timeless; therefore it makes sense that it is considered one of the best movies of all time. Kane represents the American ideal of the business man who is attempting to voice the opinion of those who cannot, and his internal and exterior struggles. Kane portrays the American dream of success, and how he lost everything. Despite of financial status and hundreds of expensive statues, Kane desires what everybody else does: happiness and love. However, Kane finds his happiness in another way than others. He finds happiness in people loving him. We can see this in his attempts to woo the public and his last words to Susan as she prepares to leave him. Who cannot relate to Kane's want of returning back to a time where everything was simple and innocent? Citizen Kane is a kind of movie that inspires the public to reevaluate their lives once more.

Another sequence in which the loveless and unhappy life of Kane is exemplified is "Destroying Susan's Room." In this sequence, Kane is portrayed as an absolute monster. The camera is placed strategically during this sequence so that the ceiling of Susan's room shows, making Kane look larger and the objects in Susan's room appear to be smaller. This tactic makes the audience understand how livid Kane is about Susan leaving him, and what a monster he has become as a result. In this sequence, the audience never sees a subjective shot through Kane's eyes, prohibiting the viewer from seeing Kane's emotions, contributing to the feeling that he is an overall madman. Kane takes belonging after belonging from Susan's room, throwing, ripping and destroying everything he can. The fact that Kane chooses to destroy everything in Susan's room is an example of how meaningless all of the material objects he has bought for her over time do not mean anything to him in the end, nor did they mean anything to her. These objects did not bring Susan any happiness, and as a result she left Kane alone in the palace forever. In the end, the material objects Kane focused so much on brought him no love or happiness in the end.

In the sequence "Night at the Opera," it is evident that the power Kane wishes to obtain is unrealistic. Kane has chosen to take the risk of opening an Opera House in which his love Susan will perform. If the Opera House is a success, Kane will obtain more power, something which he is greedy of throughout the film. In one scene, Kane and Susan are shown fighting about the performance. Susan is in the dark shadows, while Kane is shown in the light, making Kane appear dominant