1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Citizen Kane

#150- Citizen Kane (1941)
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore
Directed by: Orson Welles


Plot Summary: After wealthy newspaper publisher Charles Foster Kane dies, journalist Jerry Thompson wants to discover the significance of Kane's last word: "Rosebud." As he interviews many important people in Kane's life, he learns more about Kane's rise to the top business wise, as well as his struggles within his personal life. Among those interviewed are Kane's second wife, Susan Alexander, his business manager, Mr. Bernstein, his former best friend, Jedediah Leland, his butler, Raymond, and the written memoirs of Walter Parks Thatcher, a banker who became guardian for Kane during his childhood. Through all of their stories, Thompson knows more about Kane than intended, but is still searching in hope for the meaning of "Rosebud."


After over a year of watching movies off this list, have I finally come across the greatest film of all time? For decades that is what the general consensus has been when discussing Citizen Kane. After hearing how great this movie is, one can definitely get an impression that the film will deliver, but I'll be honest, apart from the whole "Rosebud" thing, I had no idea what this film was even about. So there was a lot to be excited about in watching this film for the first time. On one hand, if I enjoyed it, then no harm no foul, and if I didn't enjoy the film, at least I could cross it off my queue of movies to watch.

The man responsible for Citizen Kane is Orson Welles, who directed, produced, co-wrote, and starred as Charles Foster Kane. As far as visionary standpoint is concerned, we will cover that later, but let's look at his acting portrayal. Welles plays Kane with two distinct personalities. There is a confident, yet brash, business tycoon that is full of charisma and charm, but also a cynical, despicable and greedy man in his personal affairs. That's pretty impressive for his first film role, but that's only a small portion of Welles's contribution to the film.

The supporting characters are a bit of a mixed bag, as many are used more to tell Kane's story than anything else. The ones who stuck out the most were Jedediah Leland and Mr. Bernstein, played by Joseph Cotten and Everett Sloane respectively. Both felt really close to Kane in different ways, with Leland feeling close at one point to Kane, and Bernstein always displaying respect for Kane. Also, some credit should be given to the makeup department for the elderly makeup to show the characters that aged over time, while also giving equal credit to the actors for being able to play their characters as both young and old.

Welles also had a vision for how the film would be shown, and it is incorporated through the amazing and innovative cinematography by Gregg Toland. Toland really knows how to incorporate elaborate camera shots and mixing them with proper lighting effects to bring focus on what Welles wants focus to be given to. Each scene has its own unique shots, from Kane's mustached mouth saying "Rosebud," to Kane standing in a room full of mirrored walls, to dark lit rooms with the right amount of light shining in, the visual aspect of storytelling is definitely a highlight of the film that has since changed the way filmmaking and cinematography are done.

Like I said earlier, Citizen Kane has left a lasting legacy on film that has since labelled it as one of the greatest, if not the greatest movie of all time. While I can't go that far in terms of labels, I will say that it has many elements to it that any fan of movies can appreciate. It is a well-constructed film that has great acting, camera, lighting and effect techniques, and a plot that celebrates the good and bad moments of its central character. If that's not a film that movie buffs can study and analyze, I don't know what is then.


Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Maybe it's out of pure film appreciation, but I would definitely recommend that everyone sees Citizen Kane at least once before they die. If anything, it is to observe one of the 20th century's most influential films courtesy of Orson Welles.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review 

Citizen Kane and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.