Movies You Must Watch – Citizen Kane

This is one of those ‘seminal’  presentations which is often referenced, and one needs to know what people are talking about.  Why is it considered ‘the best film of all time’, why do film scholars always refer to it?

Citizen Kane was released in 1941.  It was, basically, a one man show;  it was produced, written, directed, and starred in by Orson Wells.  It was nominated for Nine Academy Awards.

What is the great excitement about this movie?

Many effects in the movie, from its music to narration, to the various scenes, were innovative.  Although we’ve seen everything before, this was the first time many things were used, and used in one movie.

The basic story, (based on the life of William Randolph Hearst, who was an American newspaper magnate) is of a very wealthy megalomanic type of man, a newspaper publisher, who dies.   He dies and his last word is ‘Rosebud’.

The mystery of the movie is this word, ‘Rosebud‘, the dying word of Kane.   A reporter decides to investigate the meaning of this word.  Why would such a powerful man, a complex man, say this as his last word?

The reporter goes to interview people who knew Kane, trying to understand who he was.

Why this movie is so important is that it is a new style.   The way the story is told, the images; it is the first time all of the various techniques were combined.

At the time, there was a great outcry from William Randolf Hearst, so the movie came out in the midst of a scandal,  but after the first year it dwindled into ignominy.    However, many people involved in film, referenced it, so the public became more interested, and many people began to watch it.

The style of the movie, with different ‘voices’, for the reporter is speaking to those who knew Kane, and getting their ‘side of the story’.

Today, so many years after the movie was made,  we may find it not all though inspiring, but we must remember that much of what we are saying was ‘new’ when the movie came out.