Analysis of the Film: Citizen Kane - Movie Review Example

Analysis of the film "Citizen Kane” Citizen Kane (1941) is a movie directed by Orson Welles in the year 1940. It was a movie at the very beginning ofhis career. Orson Welles was a director who handled the subjects with intensity. His success in career can be measured by the number of Oscars which he has won throughout his career. Orson Welles “Citizen Kane” ushered in a change in the style of American cinema and it has been regarded as the best film ever made in America in the black and white era. Citizen Kane can almost said to be a masterpiece of that era with its mind-blowing acting, techniques and sensitive artistry. The style of photography in American cinema till the 1940s was of diffused lighting and soft focus but from “Citizen Kane” the style went for a sea change. The photography concentrated more on depth-of-field photography that is all the images of the several planes could all be held in sharp focus. As a result the viewer could easily see both the foreground and the background clearly. There was no diffusion. There was no chance by which the spectator could miss anything which was possible to be seen in a single shot. The technology which assisted depth-of-field photography was use of faster films and wide-angled lenses. The script of “Citizen Kane” written by Herman J. Mankiewicz is said to have been based on the fictional biography of publishing king William Randolph Hearst, who was seventy six years old when the film was produced but the film is not the entire reflection of the character of Hearst, there is a lot of Welles in it. The character of Kane was to a great extent similar to the character of Welles. Welles in the beginning of his life was a vibrant, passionate person in his youth but moved to isolation at the end of his life just like Kane in the film. Thus it can be said that the character of Kane was as much Hearst’s as of Welles himself. (Berardinelli, 1996) The story of “Citizen Kane” is a powerful one showing clearly the use and abuse of wealth. It can be given the status of classical American tragedy which shows how a man forced by greed and passion goes to the extent where he reaches very close to his destruction and ultimately meets his end in a very tragic manner. The film is very sharp in its presentation without showing any undue sentimentality. The plot of the movie begins at a night in a royal-style estate with the sign of “No Trespassing” hung on the gate. Then slowly the camera moves to a bed room where an old man was lying with a snow globe in his hand and he utters the word, “Rosebud” and meets his end. That is the end of Kane. Therefore it can be said that the movie begins with the end of Kane which is in fact the beginning of the story of Kane who was a passionate man. The entire movie runs on flash back and the audiences get to know Kane not through himself as such but through an inquiry about Kane which reporter Jerry Thompson carries about the life of Kane. Even the ending of the film is of much significance. It ends once again with the poster of “No Trespassing” placed at the entrace of Kane’s estate Xanadu which indicates that sometimes certain things about certain persons forever remain a mystery to others as was with Kane because the actual mystery related to Rosebud was never solved. Thus we can say that the movie “Citizen Kane” used in various places symbolic treatments which are proof enough for the director’s sensibility and maturity. The relationship between the visual content and the narrative style is very well depicted in the movie. The character of Kane has become very lively to us not only by what he does and what he says throughout the film but by what is depicted by his surroundings; his surroundings have become very poignant. The depictions of the scenes in the film are very well-knitted. In the beginning of the movie there is a scene which shows that Walter Thatcher has come to take young Kane away from Colorado. The scene is framed in such a manner that Mrs. Kane is placed to the right of the frame, Thatcher is placed in the middle and Mr. Kane is placed to the left of the frame. The relative size of the characters and their positions itself tells us about the importance of the characters in that particular scene. In this particular scene Mrs. Kane who is trying level best for her son is of maximum importance and as a result she dominates the scene with her size and position. Mr. Kane, the father of Kane was an epitome of weakness in that particular scene so as a result he is shown in a frame of insignificance both in terms of position and size. Suddenly as the scene progresses our eyes set on a window where young Kane was looking at the falling snow. The scene depicts to us very clearly the obscurity of little Kane, the internal destruction which he faces because he was being taken away from his home, from his parents in fact from the place of his bliss. He feels the pain of being uprooted and that pain is well depicted by the lonesome falling snow. A number of times in the film the secondary characters are positioned in such a way that the attention of the audience will be focused towards the primary character of the film that is Kane. Till his speech about his mission to protect the slum children and the workers Kane controls the flow of the movie but soon the situations take a reverse turn .Kane then is a helpless fellow, overpowered by the power structure. Even the situation of his helplessness is depicted very well in the movie. Not only the secondary characters act as an aid to depict the tone of the scene, but also the inanimate objects subtly conveys the meaning of the scene, for example the huge rooms and the staring fireplace show that Kane is dwarfed by the situation and he has lost the control of the situation. (“Citizen Kane”, 2004). The cinematography of “Citizen Kane is among the best. It is believed that Welles had combined various movie making styles in his film and as a result it emerged out as a masterpiece. The cinematographer of the movie Gregg Toland had done a number of experiments with his lenses and lighting. Along with innovative methods of photography even in-camera effects were used to shoot deep focus shots for example such a method was used in the scene where Kane enters the room of Susan Alexander after her suicide attempt. Every scene is worked in such a manner that it seems realistic and captures the attention of the audience. The story telling technique which was used in the movie was one of episodic-sequence in the same scene where the actors changed their costumes in between cuts so that it seemed that each cut took place in the same cut. Director Welles also used a number of visual special effects in the film so that the film reaches the pinnacle of perfection visually. As per as the acting of the movie is concerned it can be said it is perfect beyond words. Most of the actors of “Citizen Kane” were not Hollywood actors but they were trained actors from the theatres of America. The trained actors of Citizen Kane added to the dramatic effect of the movie. It is also believed that the fact they were unknown added to the success of the movie on the other hand if they were well known faces they would have distracted the audience from the main plot of the movie. It can be concluded that the chosen actors of the Mercury Players did absolute justice to their roles and gave a realistic presentation which was close to the hearts of the audience and was also able to live a mark in the minds of the viewers. Thus it can be concluded that “Citizen Kane” was a visual feast and also an intellectual journey for the audience. It was a cinematic masterpiece from all points of view. Every aspect of the film contributes to its overwhelming success. The direction, the photography, the cinematography, the editing, sound effects, acting contributes to the “aesthetic realism” of the film. Therefore to point out one particular scene or a series of scene and claiming those to be symbolic and path breaking will be injustice to the film because every single part of the movie is extraordinary and helps in capturing the attention of the audience to a large extent. It may not be the all time best movie but it certainly occupies a position which most movies have not been able to trespass.  References: 1. Berardinelli J. (1996), “Citizen Kane”, available at http://www.reelviews.net/movies/c/citizen.html (accessed on 04/06/2009). 2. “Citizen Kane” (2004), available at http://www.leninimports.com/citizen_kane.html, (accessed on 04/06/2009). 3. Citizen Kane (1941), Welles, O. (director & perf), J. Cotten, D. Comingore and A. Moorehead (perfs), RKO Pictures Read More