Citizen Kane is an Orson Welles American drama film released in 1941. Orson Welles worked with Herman J. Mankiewicz on the script and with Gregg Toland in cinematography. The film is about a reporter who wants to unveil the meaning behind the word, “Rosebud” Charles Foster Kane last uttered. Citizen Kane was based after Anatole France’s novel, "Thaïs.” It was nominated in nine categories in the Academy awards and won the Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay). Film critics consider it to be the greatest film ever existed, resulting it to be nominated five consecutive times as the greatest film of all time in the Sight & Sound Polls. The film begins in a property in Florida named Xanadu with a big “K” and a “no trespassing” sign. Afterwards, snowflakes fill the screen. As the camera zooms out, a cabin comes into sight, and as it zooms out more, a snow globe in the hand of an old man becomes visible. The scene shown earlier was the inside of the snow globe held by the old man. Subsequently, the camera gives emphasis to the mouth of the old man which mumbled, “Rosebud”, and had his last breath resulting to the snow globe falling onto the floor. The door opens and a nurse enters the room. She folds the arms of the old man over his chest and covers him with white cloth. The next scene shows a newsreel entitled “News on the March” full of Charles Foster Kane’s death announcements. Charles Foster Kane is a former newspaper publisher. News on the March served as an
Citizen Kane is the life story of a powerful newspaper magnate, Charles Foster Kane. It is a fictionalized biography of the ruthless publishing baron, William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951). In actuality, the characters in the movie are composites, drawn from the lives of several famous American tycoons, but Hearst was the most obvious. Photography Gregg Toland, the cinematographer for Citizen Kane, considered the film the high point in his career & thought he might ‘learn something’ from the boy genius (Welles).
. In the American Film Institute's list of top movies ever made, it comes in at number three, after Citizen Kane and Casablanca; it is number 121 in the list of all-time box-office grosses, and has been a consistent seller in video and DVD releases. As a result, literary critics have a tendency to think that the novel's continued success is less a result of its own merit, and rather a case of riding on the movie's coattails. One critic even guessed that because the movie's director Francis Ford Coppola co-wrote the screenplay with Puzo and the movie contained the book's best lines, the good parts of the book were actually Coppola's writing, even though the book was published and selling millions of copies before the two ever met. The book and
Citizen Kane was made in 1941 (during the golden age of Hollywood). It was able to gain the attention of people when it was first made, which is due to the many techniques that were used in it, and which could rarely be found in other movies that were made during the same era. One of the most important techniques that was used several times is the Deep focus. When the camera deep focuses, a small amount of light enters through the lens, which is due to the small aperture the cinematographers use, this allows it to capture everything in the frame, and makes people able to see the whole image. Filmmakers usually use this technique when they want to show the audience an important action that could be ruined if said by words, it also allows them to show more than one action in one scene, without confusing the audience.
The film was largely based on Hearst’s life. The battle was because Hearst was angry that the film was created in spite of himself and made fun of Marion Davies. He refused to allow mention of the movie in any of his newspapers, and helped drive down the film 's disappointing box-office numbers. But Citizen Kane was as revolutionary as it was revolutionary and earned Welles a 1941 Oscar for best screenplay. It 's now considered one of the greatest films ever
In the beginning when Susan Alexander (Kane’s’ second wife) tries to commit suicide there are layers of mise en scene. The point of view is neither from the report nor audience. The flashbacks are relevant the audiences point of view shifts between characters (CinemaConfessions). The first set of the film creates the feeling of a very wealthy man.
My favorite movie of all times would have to be Orson Welles’s 1941 film Citizen Kane. This film is such a great movie that event though it is over 70 years old it is still being played not only in theaters but is also used in cinema classes. This movie had changed how movie makers made movies and has inspired so many big movies even to this day. It has been nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and had won an Academy Award for Best Writing. Even if you might not have seen the movies itself you most likely seen some of its best-known scenes in other shows like The Simpson, Family Guy and many other shows and movies.
The film Citizen Kane written, produced, and starring Orson Welles is the most innovative film of the Hollywood cinema era. The use of verbiage, cinematography and real life events occurring during the time of the films release encompassed a vast amount of talent in its right which led to Orson Welles win of Best Original Screenplay at the 1942 Academy Awards. In the beginning of Citizen Kane we hear voice over narration to emulate a news anchor who gives vivid detail of Charles Foster Kane and his life. This first scene opens in a dark room where a team of reporters are trying to unveil the importance of Kane’s final word on his deathbed “Rosebud”.
As the movie poster from Citizen Kane says, "Everybody 's talking about it, It 's terrific!" Though, what exactly is it that makes Citizen Kane the best movie of all time? Many, such as the New York Times on its debut in 1941, have acknowledged that "Citizen Kane was "one of the great (if not the greatest) motion pictures of all time" (qtd. in Brown). The movie is even in many top movie lists in rather high-ranking positions. The story is about a reporter trying to figure out just what the word "rosebud" meant to Kane, as it shows many flashbacks to Kane 's life as well.
Directed by Dziga Vertoc, ‘Man with a Movie Camera,’ is a 1929 one of a kind film. The movie is revolved around one day in the urban life in a Russian city. The movie does not include any actors, or an actual narrative, story. ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ basically follows a passionate camera man and his camera; the man himself is somewhat brave given the danger he puts himself through in order to get a specific shot. It is all about the different ways of making a film, and the techniques required.
Citizen Kane challenged the traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema mainly in the area of sound. Orson Welles was ahead of his time when he created his works of manipulating sound to transfer meaning in the film Citizen Kane. Welles used concealed hanging microphones to obtain different levels of sound throughout the film. The manner, in which the story was told, from Kane’s death flashbacked to his life of success and ultimate failure, was also a new style of storytelling for films. Welles also used symbolism with his last mumbling word “Rosebud.”
Kane’s story unfolds in overlapping flashbacks that add more information as each of the five narrators gives his or her version of a lonely boy who grows up to be an isolated arrogant, inconsiderate, morally bankrupt man. Two perspectives are simultaneously seen throughout the film: Kane’s (the camera) and the interview/interviewee. The “faceless” Thompson (the journalist in charge of finding the meaning of “Rosebud”) is never totally revealed. He is usually shown from the back, and is hidden by shadow, faint lighting or darkness. Thompson is a representative of all viewers, since he has no identity, searching along with Kane (in each flashback) for the truth of the magnate’s life.
Citizen Kane by Orson Welles is a cinematic classic, released in 1941. Citizen Kane challenged traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema. Kane was narrated by several people that include their take on Kane’s life. The story unfolds by many flashbacks and is told by different perspectives over the years through different narrations. Charles Foster Kane was a millionaire, head of newspapers and died saying “rosebud”.
I thought it was creative how a twenty-five to twenty-six-year-old wrote this movie and tried to make it like William Hearst’s life. He made it different so that people could not claim it of being his life. However, I did think it showed a lot of comparison to what I knew about Heart’s life and I think that made it a little easier to follow. Citizen Kane is a black and white film that I found enjoyment in. It was one of the first black and white films that had my attention the
The influence the snowglobe had over Kane was demonstrated as his destruction was brought to an immediate halt when the snowglobe lay in his path. Orson Welles used the sequence to set up and ultimatley define the significance the snowglobe had to Kane, as it played a key part in the mystery plot of the films plot. The photographic manipulation of angles and proximity composed visual information that would prepare the audiece for the resolution of the
Truitt explains that Kane being a "political contender" uses his own newspaper media company to "further his own power" resulting in Kane wondering "'If I hadn’t been very rich, I might have been a really great man'" (Truitt). Critics point to how Citizen Kane puts forth a major lesson on what naturally happens to humans when wealth and power are presented before them. Wood expresses Citizen Kane as "a potent metaphor for the betrayal of principles," as well as an "intelligent mediation on the corrupting nature of power" (Wood). As Kane becomes increasingly wealthy he begins to gradually lose parts of his true self eventually resulting in his own destruction which similarly happens often to people in today's society. The film not only illustrates the human nature of greed, critics say, but as well provides a solution on what to do when faced with this obstacle.