Citizen Kane Symbolism

The renowned 1941 classic Citizen Kane is a marvelous film, well-celebrated for its mystery, its unique narrative style, and its splendidly-acted performances—and rightly so, as the film is a veritable gold-mine of excellence at every turn. It seems each frame has something to notice, some interesting quality that contributes to the story in a subtle way. Citizen Kane, in short, is a film that takes no shortcuts; and, as a result of this rapt attention to detail, each frame brings something to the table.

One scene in particular, however, is especially subject to this inundation of symbolism and artistic genius—the moment in which Charles Kane meets his soon-to-be mistress and future wife, Susan Alexander. From the moment Susan takes him into

When Kane gives up on his shadow puppetry and turns to speak to Susan, his head is framed by a rug that hangs on the wall; a dark, shadowy shape, which he almost melts into. Susan, on the other hand, is framed by an angled light, almost like a spotlight, that shines over her head. Again, Welles has given us the contrast of dark and light values with these two, in both their clothing and their surroundings. And to balance the shot, Welles has the bright light sitting to the left of Kane, with a patch of darkness to the right of Susan. This gives the shot equal weight on both sides, and demonstrates once more the odd balance (and opposite nature) of the pair. Even as the camera moves closer, Kane is still isolated by the rug behind his head, and Susan remains in that soft spotlight, highlighting the differences between them. Interestingly, however, Kane’s white collar and shirtsleeves are visible in this shot, and are of a lighter value even than Susan’s white shirt; perhaps an indicator of the fact that, even if he is the “dark” one, he is still not all