As THE GREAT GATSBY is the best American literary version of the ‘Adamic Myth,’ CITIZEN KANE becomes such as cinema.
It blows the whole cover off the USA.
Consider the scene after Kane has lost the election. The camera is positioned so low as to be below the floorboards. Normally, a shot from below someone gives them a certain amount of power mis-en-scene-wise, but here it is almost as if he is going to topple over. Throw in his expression – he is clearly exhausted and feeling defeated – and you have turned the typical meaning of the low angle shot on it’s ear.
I love everything about Citizen Kane.
If Citizen Kane is going to be worth 50% of your final grade you should mention the use of deep focus.
For instance, the scene when Charles is being taken away from his parents. While the parents are talking inside the house you can see Charles playing outside perfectly.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to talk about Orson Welles himself and how he practically became Kane in real life.
Hope that helps?
Yeah, where do you begin when writing about “Citizen Kane”, I’ve studied it so much and still find new things every time I watch it. I especially like Welles’ use of long take in the famous flashback to Charles’ childhood, as the camera starts on Charles playfully whipping snowballs and yelling about the Union, pans through the foreground, with Agnes Moorhead pushing us back, through a removable desk, and then repeats the motion back to the window after a conversation about the boy’s future, without a single cut. It’s a scene, as mentioned by Sydney above, that incorporates Welles’ use of long take, deep focus, and intense lighting (as well as being a crucial character point in the development of Charles Kane), and of course it plays a large part in the tricky narrative structure of the film as well, another point for another essay topic – the use of ellipses, flashback, and multiple voices in narrative. Just writing three sentences about it makes me want to get out my much used DVD for another viewing.
I’ve mentioned this on another forum thread, but the three quick scenes of Kane and his first wife Emily over breakfast very succinctly give us the complete dissolution of their marriage in about 30 seconds, from loving looks to displeasure to absolute silence while Emily is reading the opposition newspaper, as they are no longer on speaking terms at all. Brilliant.
@Prudence – That was one of the strongest scenes in the film. I’ve not seen the movie for a while, but as soon as you mentioned, it popped right back into my head like I’d just finished watching it.
I am not familiar with this one. When did it come out?
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American dramatic film and the first feature film directed by Orson Welles, who also co-authored the screenplay. The story is a fictionalized pastiche of the life of William Randolph Hearst and Welles’ own life.1 Upon its release, Hearst prohibited mention of the film in any of his newspapers. The film traces the life and career of Charles Foster Kane, a man whose career in the publishing world is born of idealistic social service, but gradually evolves into a ruthless pursuit of power. Narrated principally through flashbacks, the story is revealed through the research of a newspaper reporter seeking to solve the mystery of the newspaper magnate’s dying word: “Rosebud.”
Citizen Kane is often cited as being one of the most innovative works in the history of film. The American Film Institute placed it at number one in its list of the 100 greatest U.S. movies of all time in 1997 and again in the revised list of 2007. In a recent poll of film critics and directors conducted by the British Film Institute, Citizen Kane was ranked the number one best film of all time by both groups.
My thoughts with Kane has always been that the techniques used, push and pull dolly, ramping, the elaborate crane moves, the mis en scene is still in use today by our modern masters; Spielberg, Scorsese, De Palama, Tarantino (No disprespect to INternational Cinema).
The visual style of the film is amazing
the greatest and most famous symbol in the history of cinema: rosebud.
The part where Kane is in Thatcher’s office with him and Bernstein contains a brilliant visual illusion. When Kane is at medium shot distance, he looks normal, as do the windows in the background, however, when Kane walks further away in the shot, towards the windows, the deep focus photography reveals the immensity of the windows, which make Kane look puny in comparison (This also mirrors when his parents sign Kane away, and his father walks into the background). The same effect is used later in the movie when Kane is in Xanadu with Susan. Susan is working on a jigsaw puzzle, and Kane walks into the background towards his fireplace, which looked normal at first, but we realize it is quite large when he gets right next to it.
I think the best you can do for your exam ir to find Gilles Deleuzes studies on cinema and read about welles there, those are probably the best cinema studies ever and they talk about every important film in history. I’m a film student as well and those books are like the bible at my college. best of lucks and really keep watching Welles because he has so much more to offer than Citizen Kane.
Thanks everybody! Thumbs up!
Another thing I love about Citizen Kane: The kinetics of the camera movement. In the scenes when Charles is young, the camera tends to be closer with a lot of energy as he moves. Compare that to the long static shots of Kane in his last days. Also young Kane tends to where white with no tie and old Kane is always in a tie and black suit. Everything seems to evolve as the corruption takes hold.
Michel Kesterson
50% of my final exam will be about (arguably) the greatest movie in film history: The Lake House. (I mean Citizen Kane!!) So I figured I’d start a topic why it’s such a remarkable film.
I happen to love the lighting. Ever notice how Kane’s face is shadowed in blackness when he’s up to no good? Example: Charles Kane and Boss Jim Gettys argue in the apartment of Susan Alexander. Both are in shadow except for Emily who stands between them. Of course this is the scene where Kane is caught in his little “love nest” and his opponent Gettys is threatening to put the whole story in the paper. (Ruining Kane’s chances for becoming Governor of New York)
Why do you love Citixen Kane. (Or dislike for that matter)