Citizen Kane: Film Analysis Essay

Citizen Kane, made in 1941 by Orson Wells, presents a biography of Charles Foster Kane and used an approach to plot order that was radical for its time. It was a pioneer in advanced techniques such as using actors and objects at different distances and keeping them in focus, longer shots without cuts, and non-linear storytelling. Citizen Kane and the techniques used would affect Hollywood cinema for years to come. The movie, Citizen Kane, consisted of nine sequences, five of which are flashbacks. It starts with Kane’s death then is followed up by the major events in his life.

When discussing the greatest films of all time, Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, usually comes up. It’s influence in American cinema can still be felt today, but at the time the film was not released without controversy. The main character in the movie, Charles Foster Kane, is undeniably based of the real life figure of William Randolph Hearst, a famous American newspaper publisher. Hearst was very aware of this fact and tried to hinder the success of Welles’ picture by denying it any sort of press in his newspapers. Despite the smear campaign Kane’s influence lives on through Welles’ revolutionary filmic techniques and its presence in pop culture.

Struggle defines the movie Citizen Kane by Orson Welles. We struggle to follow along with it’s haphazard sequencing of events. The dark lighting strains the eyes. We even struggle to follow along as to where we are. There is narration but only that which helps tell the story of Kane, not where we are at the moment. That we must discover for ourselves as we follow the journalist through his investigation. Citizen Kane utilized unique camera angles that were not used in the cookie-cutter Hollywood style. Ceilings were almost never shown because it would expose the stage. The camera did not make you feel like an audience member sitting in the middle of a theater watching the story. Citizen Kane actually takes you into the world as a member of that world, a bystander that see’s these events first hand. The camera had a lot to do with that. In the opening scene the fades from shot to shot. The camera places you in realistic positions. Classic Hollywood films at the time were very much like going to a theatrical theater, such as an opera house. The camera angles were very limited.

Citizen Kane represents a long period of time, allowing the characters to age throughout the film. Telling Kane’s life story in flashbacks is a very original approach in captivating the significance of his life. The film starts out by the parents almost abandoning their child, even when he does not want to leave. Kane’s mother did it out of protection from his father because he seemed to be an abusive alcoholic. As the film went on and Kane started to grow, he became very well known for his success in the newspaper business. He would tell the world the truth. The most interesting thing was the flashbacks were told through five different points-of-view. The flashback was given from characters that would mostly be forgotten. The unreliable narrators affect the opinions and accuracy of their interpretations. The camerawork had a very huge impact on the film. The way the actors were captured and how it showed how certain events lead to others. For example, the audience saw how in the beginning of the film Kane was a very happy young child, but as things began to change, the camera isolated Kane and his parents, as they planned to separate Kane from his home. Once they separated Kane from his home, he begun to isolate everything and everyone else who tried to get close to him. Kane’s isolation follows him into his adulthood, where we see his workers celebrating in honor of his success and Kane is not there with them. The way the story was told made the audience question as to why

“Citizen Kane” was the first feature film of Orson Welles, who at the time was well known for his work in radio and theatre. Released in 1941, the film has often been regarded as one of the most influential films of the century, still having a significant impact on modern filmmakers all over the world. The film even held the number one title of the BFI’s “Sight & Sound” poll for 50 years, meaning it was considered the greatest film of all time by hundreds of top critics in the business. Now, it still ranks at number two, recently being overtaken by Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo”.

Production crews were under pressure from studio directors to put out movies and make them fast. During times like these directors had to fight to make their creative voices heard. Among the movies of this era Citizen Kane stood out above the rest for

At the 1942 Academy awards, Citizen Kane was booed off stage numerous times, despite being nominated in 7 categories and winning best original screenplay by Orson Welles and Herman J Mankiewicz. Greetings board of studies panel members, as a current year 12 student I urge you to reconsider eliminating Citizen Kane from next years module B curriculum. Although the film was not well received in the early 1940’s, it has become renowned as one of the greatest films of all time, with distinguished critics noting its cinematic innovations, allowing the film to have enduring power. Textual integrity enables Citizen Kane to continually meet values and create meaning, while still entertaining a modern audience through coherent form and language, for instance the construction of the film, diegetic and non-diegetic sound, and the social message of isolationism. Through comprehensively studying Citizen Kane my understanding of the film has been deepened and enables me to enjoy the film to a greater extent. As Citizen Kane is a film, it is more accessible to a contemporary year 12 audience than a novel or play. The audience is an active agent in completing Citizen Kane’s meaning through interpretation. Much of the film can be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on the life experience, values and beliefs a responder brings to the film. Citizen Kane serves the rubric well for the purposes of module B; it would be a tragedy to lose such a rich text.

No one can sum up a man 's life into one word. This was a thought--intriguingly an idea in the film that still resonates today in our society. Citizen Kane (1941) is an important film that reflected society 's false belief of the American Dream during its time. The film was directed and starred by Orson Welles and tells a story of a man name Charles Foster Kane, who had everything and who lived an ideal life that everyone wanted to have. However, having many fine possessions of things and a great deal amount of money at his disposal, did not make him happy. The film reflects on Mr. Kane 's life before his death and his legacy. Citizen Kane shows how during the era, people wanted to have financial security, happiness and to gain material success. Although the American Dream is still something people want today, Citizen Kane shows how attaining the American Dream was something less of a dream during its era. The film also show the changes of the American Dream from 'dream ' to 'myth ' and explores the dark side of the held belief.

Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles was assumed to be based on William Randolph Hearst, which is why the film didn 't become popular until the 1950s, as William had power over the press; ironically depicting the power of press, a motif portrayed in the movie. Citizen Kane was meant to test the limits that hollywood had on political criticism and difference of aesthetics. Kanes loss of childhood is depicted through close ups representing loss of childhood, low angle shots representing his hunger for power , deep focus representing personal isolation and lighting representing materialism; which are all motifs and technical codes that aid the attempt to define Kanes life.

When we see all the greatest signs of the construction and architectural antiques you will assert that there is a great legend who certainly had impacted on his society. Some questions are back and forth in my imagination about how the life of a citizen Kane was transformed from turbulence into dominion and strength. Sometimes an early sign might give some signals to a change that may occur in the near future and one of the signs that happened when Kane was a child lives with his mother but suddenly for a reason his life starts to change when he left his mother and became one of the political symbols of his state.

Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane is a revolutionary film. Although it might not look like much to the modern viewer, many aspects of the film were the first of their kind to appear and are still used today.

Throughout the movie Citizen Kane, Welles uses framing and the visual aspect of movies to bolster the theme he is trying to convey. Perhaps the most striking example of this is when Kane is sitting at the dinner table with his first wife, Emily. At first, the table is a normal size, and the two can have a conversation and live happily. However, as Kane becomes more engrossed in his business and the love of power takes over his life, the table grows to the point where the couple is a whole room's length away from each other. This also shows in this emotional distance and lack of conversation.

Film scholars and historians view Citizen Kane as Welles's attempt to create a new style of filmmaking by studying various forms of film making, and combining them all into one. However, Welles stated that his love for cinema began only when he started the work on the film. When asked where he got the confidence as a first-time director to direct a film so radically different from contemporary cinema, he responded, "Ignorance, ignorance, sheer ignorance — you know there's no confidence to equal it. It's only when you know something about a profession, I think, that you're timid or careful."[48]:80

The absolutely stunning film, Citizen Kane (1941), is one of the world’s most famous and highly renowned films. The film contains many remarkable scenes and cinematic techniques as well as innovations. Within this well-known film, Orson Welles (director) portrays many stylistic features and fundamentals of cinematography. The scene of Charles Foster Kane and his wife, Susan, at Xanadu shows the dominance that Kane bears over people in general as well as Susan specifically. Throughout the film, Orson Welles continues to convey the message of Susan’s inferiority to Mr. Kane. Also, Welles furthers the image of how demanding Kane is of Susan and many others. Mr. Welles conveys the message that Kane has suffered a hard life, and will

Truitt, Brian. "'Citizen Kane' Just As Important Today." USA Today, 14 November 2016. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 February 2017.