The Explanation for the Dying Words of Charles Foster Kane in the Film - Essay Example

Lecturer Visual Analysis of the Biopic film Citizen Kane The ic and sophisticated masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941) entails the world’s most highly rated and famous film. This is due to its various remarkable scenes, fantastic performances, cinematic techniques, experimental innovations, and narrative approaches. The film was budgeted at $800,000. It received a lot of critical appraisals; although it did not realize commercial success, due to delayed release by RKO and limited distribution. The delayed release was because of the pressure exerted by W. R. Hearst, the famous megalomaniac publisher. The film received a delayed, but well deserved, in Europe after the Second World War; thereafter, the film played on television. The film received nine Oscar nominations, but won only one for Best Original Screenplay (Citizen, 1997). Summary of the Citizen Kane The pessimistic theme of the spiritually failed man is illustrated from various unreliable points of view or perspectives, of different characters. This at times provides a contradictory and non-sequential portrait. The film illustrates the tragic story of a rags-to-riches child who was lucky to inherit a fortune. The child was taken by a wealthy banker, from his father, mother and humble surroundings. He was raised by the banker, and he eventually became a very wealthy, energetic and arrogant newspaperman. He built his reputation as a generous champion of the poor and the underprivileged in the society. This is because he had his mind focused on a political career (Jonathan, 2007). However, his political aspirations shuttered following the revelation of an improper love affair with a professional singer. The life of Kane was self-destructed due to the desire of fulfilling the ultimate American dream of power, success, wealth, fame, and immortality. Following his two failed marriages, he turned into a tyrannical monster. He spent his final days alone and unhappy (Christey, 2004). He met his death in a refuge of his desire, a magnificent castle filled with treasured possessions to make up for the emptiness in his life. Controversies Generated by the Citizen Kane The film created controversy before it was shown on May 1, 1941 in New York City. This is because it was believed to caricaturize and fictionalizes unique events and persons related to William Randolph Hearst (Higham, 1985). Hearst was a very powerful and influential publisher and newspaper magnate during that time. The controversy as a result of the film also entailed ruthless suppression during early 1941, due to FBI investigations, newspaper smears, intimidation, discrediting, and blackmail. The film faced accusations of drawing unflattering, uncomplimentary, and remarkable parallels to real life; more so in regard to the character of Susan Alexander Kane. This battle is illustrated in the 1996 Oscar nominated documentary of Michael Epstein and Thomas Lennon, referred to as The Battle over Citizen Kane. Citizen Kane was also retold in the 1999 HBO’s cable-TV movie referred to as RKO 281. The title of the film illustrates the film’s project numbering utilized by the production studio, before being formally titled (Hever, 2005). Louella Parsons, the gossip columnist told Hearst, her newspaper boss, that the Orson Welles’ film was slandering him, according to the analysis of the first preview. Therefore, Hearts owned newspapers and related media outlets encouraged the theatres not to show the film, and he even threatened libel lawsuits. Hearst also directed all his publications to ignore the film, and not accept any advertisement related to RKO projects (Tarbox et al., 2001). However, the character of Charles Foster Kane represented any number of influential, colorful and powerful American financial barons and individualists of the 20th century; for example Henry Luce the Time Magazine’s mogul, Harold McCormick the head of Chicago newspaper, and other barons of the time. But in contrast, the real Hearst was born in a wealthy family, while Kane was the son of poor boarding proprietors. Kane, unlike hearts, was also separated from his mistress and mother. Visual Analysis Techniques The innovative and bold film ensured a milestone in the development of the cinematic technique. The film applied art to energetically display and communicate the non-static view of life. This is because it brought together several visual aspects. During the film production stage, subjective cameras were employed. Another cinematic aspect entails the unconventional lighting employed during production. This entailed backlighting, chiaroscuro, high contrast lighting, low key lighting and prefiguring the darkness. The film applied the inventive application of the strange camera angles and shadows, in accordance with the German Expressionists’ traditions (Feder, 2009). To emphasize the mise-en-scene, the cameras applied deep focus shots with adequate depth-of field, and a focus from the extreme foreground, to the extreme background. This also resulted to in-camera matte shots. The low angle shots illustrated the ceilings in sets. Revealing facial close-ups was sparsely utilized. Camera movements were elaborate, with overlapping, layered sound and talk-over dialogue. The sound technique applied the lightning-mix where complex montage sequence is connected to related sounds. The film employed cast characters that continuously ages throughout the entire film. The concepts of non-linear storytelling, flash backs and flash forwards were employed. The film had long sequences or lenghty6 uninterrupted shots. Also there was frequent application of curtain wipes or transition dissolves; for instance in the scene where the camera in the opera house ascended into rafters to illustrate the workmen’s disapproval of the operatic performance of Mrs. Kane. This is also represented during the ‘breakfast’ montage scene to explain the disintegration of Kane’s marriage in a short duration of time (Houseman, 1992). Biopic Characteristics of the Citizen Kane Citizen Kane ensured cinematic advances in many aspects. The major contribution to the field of cinematography entailed using a film technique referred to as deep focus. Deep focus entails ensuring everything is in the frame; including the background. Everything in the frame is in focus simultaneously (at the same time); as opposed to having in focus only the objects in the foreground. The deep focus method requires the film producer to integrate the composition, lighting, and camera lens type to generate the desired visual effect. With the application of the deep focus, the filmmaker can illustrate the overlapping actions, and the physical environment of the film (mise-en-scene).appropriate manipulation of the mise-en-scene for deep focus adequately engages the entire frame without making the viewer confused. Deep focus is most appropriate in scenarios that illustrate Kane’s personal isolation and loss of control; this is because it provides the audience with clear view of the space available for Kane to command, and space wher4 Kane has no power. Gregg Tolland, the cinematographer for Citizen Kane applied the deep focus technique in a film he earlier produced; the Long Voyage Home (Quinn, 2008). However, the Citizen Kane illustrated the first time the cinematography technique has been extensively and effectively applied in film production. Citizen Kane also introduced Hollywood to other effective cinematic techniques. For instance, the ‘wipe’ technique which enables one image to be ‘wiped off’ the screen by a different image. Other cinematic innovations entailed performing unique experiments with the angles of the camera. The Mercury Theatre cast chosen by Welles was crucial to the film and success of cinematic techniques like the deep focus. The members of the cast were effectively trained theatrical actors. None of the cast members had ever had ever produced a movie before. Their proper stage training enabled them to effectively place themselves in each scene, and this compliments the deep focus application. The acting and the cinematic techniques integrated very perfectly, and the total control given to Welles during the casting was justified. The integration of various innovative techniques is the concept that ensures the Citizen Kane remains a cinematically significant film. Citizen Kane also employs creative and innovative storytelling techniques. Acting as a biographical film, the Citizen Kane illustrates a long duration realistically through allowing the characters to age as the story progresses. The story of Kane is illustrated in overlapping segments that ensure increased information as each individual narrator adds her or his story. This is contrary to the story being illustrated in a linear and entirely chronological pattern. Employing flashbacks in the story of Kane also represents another significant film technique. Although flashback was employed in earlier films, the Citizen Kane effectively used it. The flashbacks are illustrated in the form of characters that are forgetful or aging. The flashback concept cast doubt on the memory of issues being discussed. This explains that there are unreliable narrators whose ideas or interpretations may affect accuracy of the story (Houseman, 1992). The story telling approaches and techniques succeeded in portraying Charles Foster Kane as a complicated and tortured man, who at the end of the film leaves the audience with a lot of questions with inadequate answers. The story techniques also ensure that the audiences have sympathy on Kane, instead of the expected or the deserved contempt. Welles’s effective utilization of the cinematic techniques created a new direction in the cinema sector. Many critics explain that Citizen Kane is the first film noir, due to its appropriate application of shadow and lightning (Jonathan, 2007). Noir entails a film genre that utilize dark and moody atmosphere to illustrate the usually mysterious and violent events in a film. Citizen Kane introduced the creative and innovative aspect of cinematic techniques in Hollywood. Aside from the controversy, the techniques applied in the Citizen Kane ensured that the film became the most exiting in the history of cinema during that time (Christey, 2004). The Underlying feature of the Citizen Kane Narratively, the legendary writer Herman Mankiewicz together with Welles produces a storytelling tour de force that integrates non-linear narrative, varying narrative forms, composite storytelling, and dramatic change of decades. Composite story telling is illustrated through multiple points of view; this technique is later on associated with Rashomon. Varying narrative aspects entails the famous newsreel segment, interviews, flash forwards and flashbacks. The dramatic change in decades is illustrated through the characters changing from childhood to old age, or from young adulthood to old age. These characters are complicated and ambiguous, with a dialogue that entails insight and wit (Hever, 2005). Thematically, the movie illustrates the mysteries of man from different angles. These different categories are love, politics, marriage, sex, divorce, power, money, happiness, celebrity, media, despair and death (Citizen, 1989). This ambitious study seeks to answer the 2000 year old question: is it profitable or necessary for man to gain and control the whole world, but lose his own soul? Visually, the famous cinematographer Gregg Toland and Welles, created a dramatic method of integrating superior cinematic techniques like varied camera angles, unconventional application of lighting, extreme deep focus, low angles and deep shadows. These techniques ensured effective anticipation of the superior noir genre of films. Separately, the majority of these techniques had been previously used other movies; however, Citizen Kane effectively integrated them with unprecedented maturity, expertise and acumen (Quinn, 2008). Kane manages to accomplish this film’ not as a special film for the ambitious individuals; but a s a popular film and story for the masses, and a famous twist that is forever anchored in the history of Hollywood. The ending of the film illustrates the explanation for the dying words of Charles Foster Kane, ‘Rosebud.’ The film answers the last question; but does not provide a final judgment of the complex protagonist. This illustrates that the man’s life entails more than a question or riddle to be resolved. Bibliography Christey, N. (2004). "Orson Welles: An Incomplete Education". Senses of Cinema. Citizen, W. (1989). A Biography of Orson Welles. New York: Charles Scribners Sons. Feder, C. (2009). In My Fathers Shadow: A Daughter Remembers Orson Welles. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Algonquin Books. Heyer, P. (2005). The medium and the magician: Orson Welles, the radio years, 1934–1952. NY: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 3–5. Higham, C. (1985). Orson Welles: The Rise and Fall of an American Genius. New York: St. Martins Press. Houseman, J. (1992). Run Through: A Memoir. New York: Simon & Schuster. Jonathan, O. (2007). Discovering Orson Welles. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. Quinn, S. (2008). Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art Out of Desperate Times. New York: Walker & Co. Tarbox, T. et al. (2001). A Friendship in Three Acts. Albany, Georgia: BearManor Media. Read More