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citizen kane film review essay
citizen kane character analysis
analyze the movie citizen kane
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Citizen Kane was a film released in 1941 and it it was voted #1 in history of American film. It was written by, directed by and acted by Orson Welles. The story was set in Xanada in Florida and started with an introduction about that place. Citizen Kane has a strange opening as it opened with the camera panning a spooky haunted mansion and then the camera lingered and zoomed in closely to the sign saying "No Trepassing, " then the camera took us to the room in the house, we saw a person was lying on the bed and that was the main character of the story "Charles Foster Kane" (Orson Welles) We could see that he was dying and his last word was "Rosebud", and then he dropped the ball, and it shattered. Because of the word "Rosebud", people wanted to find out what it was, so it was a rising action which the story will began. After Charles' death, the next scence was a newsreel "News on the March," which announces the death of Charles and giving a summary of Charles¡¦s colorful life and career and surely will introduced some of the important people and events in Charles¡¦ life. As this a summary of Charles¡¦s life, this was just an introduction of him, so that we got a sences of how he was like. Later on in the film, we will deeply understand his relationships between him and his wife and about his career. The newsrell was played in a small projection room filled with reporters. He noted Charles¡¦s last word ¡§rosebud¡¨ would make people suspicious. He decided to send a reporter, ¡§Jerry Thompson,¡¨ to search the meaning behind the word ¡§rose bud.¡¨ Jerry¡¦s first interview was Charles¡¦s 2nd wife ¡§Susan Alexander Kane, who worked as a dancer and singer in a bar, thinking she would know something about rosebud. For the reason, she was drunk, she was not willing to tell anything about him, so the waiter told Jerry that she spoke of him often when he was alive, but she said she had never heard of rosebud before. After that, Jerry went to Hall and he read a diary of Charles. As Jerry began to read this memoir, the image of the page dissolves into a flashback to Kane¡¦s childhood. The flashback showed how Thatcher, Charles¡¦s guardian until 25 years old, meet Charles.
Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, was an exemplary and ground-breaking work. In narrative structure and film style, Welles challenged classical Hollywood conventions and opened a path for experimentation in the later 1940s. Gregg Toland’s deep-focus cinematography and Welles’ use of low-key lighting are often discussed aspects of the movie. True, these were areas of innovation, but when watching the movie in class I was particularly struck by the use of camera movement, or “mobile framing” as described in Film Art. In this historical analysis, I will take a detailed look at how Welles and Toland use camera movement to develop and challenge the Hollywood style. By referring to other movies viewed in Professor Keating’s class, including The Cheat, Wings, Applause, Double Indemnity, The Last Laugh and Bicycle Thief, this paper traces one aspect of innovation and diffusion in the movie many call the greatest film ever, Citizen Kane.
Citizen Kane has many layers in the narrative and use of cinematic language. The character Charles Kane with all his complexities had a very simple longing to be loved. Wells created a film filled with twists, turns and complexities in both the narrative and the visual narrative and this too left a simple visual at the end of Kane's childhood sleigh with the
Mise-en-scène, cinematography and editing are used in all forms of cinema. Within the “Declaration of Principles” scene of Citizen Kane, lighting, blocking and panning are three of the main sub aspects that work in unison to consistently demonstrate important aspects of the film. Welles uses these attributes to portray to the audience how this younger Kane is an important newspaper owner, with an even more important document. He creates a scene that has a heavy emphasis on panning to continuously preserve a frame that centers Kane while also lighting the document so viewers can constantly see the important plot and characters of the movie.
What I believe Orson Welles means by Citizen Kane being a “failure story” is, despite Charles Foster Kane’s immense amount of wealth and status due to his career as a newspaper tycoon, he is a man who is very unhappy in life. The story shows how prosperity and power is ultimately useless in the absence of genuine love from others.
In pure chronological order the storyline of Citizen Kane would have been dull and unfocused. To mend this he and Herman Mankiewicz fragmented the story and jumbled it then had a hopeful reporter given one clue, the word rosebud, and track down the truth of Kane’s life. The story was told almost entirely via Flashbacks.
Orson Welles is a legend in itself. He is a dedicated director, actor, and artist. An artist in the sense he directed, produced, and was the star in the film Citizen Kane.' The film won an award for best screenplay that was co-written by Welles. Citizen Kane' brings into light many social problems between countries, relationships, and also between competing newspaper companies. The film was a big controversy when it was first released on a delay (because of personal conditions with W.R. Hearst). It brings into light how a newspaper should react and also brings the corruption of politics. War was breaking out in Europe and throughout the entire film Kane states there will be no war. He ignores the fact people are being killed, tortured, and rounded up like livestock because of Adolf Hitler. The film was released on May 1, 1941 a few days before Joseph Stalin becomes premier of Russia, a day before Nazis took over Netherlands, and eight days before the English army breaks the German codes.
Baruch Spinoza once said “Experience teaches us no less clearly than reason, that men believe themselves free, simply because they are conscious of their actions and unconscious of the causes whereby those actions are determined.” He compared free-will with destiny and ended up that what we live and what we think are all results of our destiny; and the concept of the free-will as humanity know is just the awareness of the situation. Similarly, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five explores this struggle between free-will and destiny, and illustrates the idea of time in order to demonstrate that there is no free-will in war; it is just destiny. Vonnegut conveys this through irony, symbolism and satire.
In your view, how does Welles’ portrayal of the complex nature of happiness contribute to the enduring value of Citizen Kane?
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 continue to until death. Welles conveys many stylistic features as well as fundamentals of cinematography through use of light and darkness, staging and proxemics, personal theme development and materialism within the film, Citizen Kane.
Sarah Street said, “in Citizen Kane Welles is criticizing fundamental contradictions within monopolistic journalism and political rhetoric.” He wasn’t only showcasing his talents in film he was conveying a real message to the public. He was criticizing the way people’s agenda can truly affect the world as seen through Hearst these individuals have great power, but often lack honesty in the way of doing things. Another critic Armstrong says the script “asks you to ponder the meaning of someone's life. What makes living worthwhile? What makes a person happy: money, love, power? How do we make sense of that life--by what was said, what was done, or by what is left?” This great description entails many of the other elements Welles wanted to face. Although Kane had all he ever wanted what did he accomplish and what was he missing and searching for all his life. This draws back to the main search in the story for Rosebud. Welles while creating a wonderful visual piece also had the thrilling unique story to go along with
Many devices such as theme, subject and meaning reflect different aspects of a film. The time and place that the movie is made are usually affected but this.
Orson Welles ' introduced innovating editing and sound design in the 1940s with Citizen Kane (1941). Welles uses editing and sound to show the audience the passing of time, this is seen the breakfast montage. Welles uses sound bridges during the transitional wipes of fast moving images which fade into the next shot. The sound bridges act as links between the two scenes and make the time difference apparent to the audience. At the beginning of the montage Welles uses a slow zoom combined with romantic music to show the love between Kane and Emily. Both characters appear in the frame together with deep focus and slow paced editing which shows the closeness of the couple in the early years. This is juxtaposed by the end of the montage showing
Citizen Kane is a timeless movie that revolutionized the film industry by bringing new techniques and ways to go about making a film that changed the Cinema forever. Orson Welles created a timeless picture by dedicated himself to the Mise-en-scene, he pushed the boundaries and found different ways to utilize what he already knew. The Mise-En-Scene of this narrative creates a film that is ahead of it’s time and a genius innovation to
Citizen Kane, is a 1941 American film, written, produced, and starred by Orson Welles. This film is often proclaimed by critics,filmmakers, and fans as one of the best if not the best film ever made. Citizen Kane is an unbelievable film becuase of how advanced it is compared to other films of its time. In the film, the producer used many different narrative elements to capture the audiences imagination. It truly is astounding how the filmmakers used certain editing techniques, sounds, and different narrative elements to illustrate the story and the plot. Although the plot isnt exactly captivating to the present day audience, this film is still amazing due to how much work and effort went into making it.
In the 21st century, the media still has power over the public, even more so than what is seen in Citizen Kane, as there are many more forms of media than just the newspaper. Citizen Kane is largely concerned with exposing the deceit and manipulation inherent in the media. Welles’ statement on ‘truth’ in the media is perhaps best summed up in Kane’s line: “Don’t believe everything you hear on the radio. Read The Inquirer.” Other than the obvious self-aware irony of this line, given by the founder of The Inquirer with a cheeky smile, the line is also a sly nod to Welles’ own history on radio, and particularly the War of the Worlds prank. The 1940s audience would have recognised this intertextuality and appreciated its comment on the untrustworthiness