Citizen Kane Review

Citizen Kane Review

Geneva Hale

ENG 225 Introduction to Film

Instructor: Andrew Stewart

September 26, 2013

A wealthy life comes with many relationships, problems, and sometimes it can produce bad behavioral patterns. This review tells all about the epic story of "rags to riches." A child name Charles Foster Kane inherits a fortune after being taken away from his mother and father. Raised by a banker Charles became a wealthy, self-centered, and vigorous newspaperman. He made his reputation as the generous, idealistic champion of the underprivileged and set his narcissistic mind on a political career, until those political dreams were shattered.

Citizen Kane (1941)American drama film, viewed by many as the greatest film ever made, abstains from the traditional chronological narrative and tells Kane's narrative completely in a non-linear form as well as flashback using different point of view (voice-over narrator, mixed point of view, and an omniscient point of view). "The plot of Kane begins at the end of the story, basically; Charles Foster Kane, the subject and protagonist of the film, dies whispering his last word "Rosebud." (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011) Orson Welles the director, co- writer, producer, and leading actor dispenses with the scheme of a particular storyteller and uses several friends and acquaintances to tell the story of Kane's life, this style Welles used was unheard of in Hollywood films. Each storyteller (acquaintances) describes a special part of Kane's life, with each one story somewhat overlapping.

The external conflict and internal conflict in this film is when Kane decides that he will jeopardize the love of his family to pursue the love of his career as governor. Getty (antagonist) who is the current governor as well as Kane's running mate warns Kane that he will expose Kane's affair with Susan Alexander unless he withdraws from the election and leaves the country but he refuses and lose everything ( family and election) in following.

Most times in films, actors are what we see first and their acting is what makes the audience want to watch the film. The actor and acting is only part of the film; there are other elements (mise en scene) that have to be placed in certain scenes like setting and sets, lighting, colors, props (short for properties), etc. In Citizen Kane, we are greeted by radio broadcasting, silent title "Citizen Kane" in stark white-bordered black lettering on a black background the resembles a newspaper headline more than a film title, in spite of reversal of colors. The first shot, which is Kane's opening, is of a 'No Trespassing' sign, which dissolves into more wire

(fading out while a new image fades in. At midpoint of dissolve, the two images are superimposed) a symbol (mise en scene can also be symbolic, it is what the audience see in a scene) of the emotional barricades the film's protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, has placed between himself and both the world at large and those to whom he once close. The slow pace at which Welles cameras wanders the grounds of Xanadu after first scaling the chain link fence on which the sign is positioned not only gives the audience an insight into the depth of Kane's loneliness, but also lends a voyeuristic building block to its journey, as if promising to reveal to us the secrets of its owner's life. The grounds that were once green and stunning are now in poor condition, reflecting the mental and physical decline health of their once prevailing owner. The desolate tones that come with its journey are almost unrecognizable as the opening notes of A Poco No, Kane's high- spirited signature tune plays throughout the film.

Orson Welles put his own stamp on the film while telling the history of radio; the newspaper became a way of life in Americas as well as the people behind it all. In the film, Orson Welles also portrays his own life, the rise and fall in his life was told through his character Kane. During casting, Orson Welles wanted just the right actors for this film so he decided that he did not want any well-known actors in his film. His entire main cast was new to acting.

The cast:

Orson Welles plays Charles Foster Kane

Joseph Cotten plays Jedediah Leland

Dorothy Comingore - Susan Alexander

Everett Sloane- Mr. Bernstein

Ray Collins- Jim W. Gettys

George Coulouris- Walter Parks Thatcher

Agnes Moorehead- Mary Kane

Paul Stewart - Raymond, Mr. Kane's Butler

Ruth Warrick- Emily Monroe Norton Kane

Erskine Sanford -Herbert Carter

William Alland - Jerry Thompson

During the collaborative process, Welles takes on all three roles by writer, director and acting.

The most revolutionary technical feature of Citizen Kane is the extensive use of deep focus. In almost every scene in the movie, the foreground, and everything in between are in sharp focus. Gregg Toland, known as one of the most respected cinematographer in those times.

As stated (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011)

Gregg Toland created a scene early in the film set in the boardinghouse where the young Charles Foster Kane lives with his parents. They live in poverty, until a gold mine is discovered on the property. Charles's mother (Agnes Moorehead) signs the necessary papers to send Charles away with the banker Walter Thatcher (George Coulouris) so that the boy can get an education. Yet while we see them in the foreground, in the background we see Charles playing in the snow outside the window, cheerfully (he is unaware that he is about to be sent away), riding on his sled. He, too, is in perfect focus, so that the audience is forced to believe both the adults and the boy with equal weight. Viewers may subconsciously note throughout this shot that the child is literally as well as figuratively separating his parents. The staging of the actors, within the set display Welles's organization of the mise en scène. Toland (the cinematographer) was able to use deep focus, in which everything in the foreground and background is clear and precise, more skillfully than anyone had done at