Citizen Kane (film): A dangerous film to review

in #getyerlearnon6 years ago (edited)

This is widely regarded as one of the best movies ever made and I concur because i watched it for the first time about 2 years ago and despite the fact that it is very old (1941) it is still really entertaining in today's times.

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I don't think you need to be a movie nerd like me (I'm not really one) in order to already know the importance of Citizen Kane. It is officially defined as a mystery-drama film and if you look at really any list of the most influential films of all time you can be all-but-guaranteed that CK will be in the top 10... top 20 at worst, number 1 at best.

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For all the film students out there: The use of lighting and certain camera angles that you probably know the names of are something that even the common man like myself can relate to their awesomeness. The movie progresses in a wonderfully entertaining fashion and the question that is asked at the beginning of the film isn't even a question to people that haven't seen it before. It likely wouldn't even occur to them what was being asked and the shock ending was just so unbelievably strange that you have to think about it for a while before you can really understand the underlying meaning of it all.

Look, I am not going to try to be a all psychological about all of this and I am not a film student. However, once you have seen the start, the middle, and the end of this movie made nearly 80 years ago, you cant help be stand up and applaud. There are very few things that can remain relevant for that amount of time and I would be the first person to join in the chant of saying "no, that's not good, it's just artsy crap!"

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I honestly don't believe that Citizen Kane is artsy crap that can only be understood by a handful of film students with Masters' degrees. I do believe that the film is so monumental that someone actually could do a masters' thesis on this movie and come up with loads of original ideas based on the source material despite the fact that thousands upon thousands of people have likely done so already.

I dare you: Find me another piece of cinematography from the 1940's that is anywhere near as captivating as this film is. This movie has been discussed, picked apart, analyzed and dissected from one end of the globe to the other for nearly one hundred years and no one really has a definitive answer.

That my friends... is true art when you can pull that off. I don't think the people who made the film were necessarily trying to accomplish that either.

Orson Welles decided to take the lead role of Charles Foster Kane himself after writing, directing, and producing the film.

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I was absolutely astounded to find out that despite the fact that this film was considered a monumental success by the critics that it failed to recoup the investment laid into its production. If there was any sort of accountancy of the ages, i would imagine that the poor fortune of the 40's has since been changed many times over, but I don't want to pretend to know that this is true.

I do know that the film was banned from being advertised in any of the newspapers that William Randolph Hearst owned at the time because it was believed then (and still now by some) that the film was meant to be about him. If you don't know so that is, Hearst was a newspaper magnate at the time period in question and many believe that this film was a direct attack on him.

I will NOT give this movie a score. Some things are too legendary for a lowly person like me to attempt to quantify it and I believe the "best film of all time" is one of those things. I am nowhere near learned enough to have a method of gauging how incredible this film is. I will say this: A vast majority of a cinematographic world believes this is the best film ever made by anyone and therefore that speaks volumes.

Here is a modernized trailer... i hope it will inspire you to watch a massively major part of history

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This film is therefore called the best in the history of cinema, that it still remains unknowable both in terms of philosophical content, and in terms of art - the unity of thought and its embodiment. As in any great work, in Welles’s picture perfection is embodied in a special material substance, not material, but solely an artistic substance-the organic nature of the idea and image, the astonishing magical act of transforming the amorphous intangible fog of the author's inner world into building the space of cadres and moving them into each other. Perhaps, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the director staged such a brilliant tape at the age of only 25 years. Moreover, only a young man could achieve this. Only a fresh look and an uncontrollable, not freshened-up fantasy with an unbearable thirst to say one's words could overturn the tradition and accomplish what will be called "ahead of time" years later. Undoubtedly, the new cannot be created without a memory of the old, and here we see the techniques of the past, but in themselves, they are empty, therefore they can serve only as a means to fix creativity, which in its pure form is always original.
The film buries its hero, leaving behind him a train of understatement. The final shots do not dispel the darkness of mystery and, it seems, of the incomprehensible depth of personality. The viewer remains in ignorance to the same extent as at the very beginning of the fictional chronicle, but this ignorance takes on a different form, which is more important than unambiguous clarity. After we have examined the life of the character to the smallest nuances, we realize the main thing - its fundamental unknowability, which is the true essence of human nature.
Like any great work, "Citizen Kane" goes beyond the boundaries of art and continues already inside the viewer, becoming an external embodiment of self-knowledge.

It's a difficult undertaking for someone of my generation to watch a film like CITIZEN KANE. Not because it's "too old" or "too boring", but because it has been hailed--almost universally--as the single best motion picture ever made. And while the anticipation of seeing a film with such overwhelming acclaim may be quite exhilarating, actually watching it is ultimately an intimidating and somewhat disappointing experience.

This isn't to say that I thought CITIZEN KANE was a bad film; in fact, I thought everything about it was downright brilliant. From the enchanting performances right down to the meticulously planned camera movements and clever lighting tricks, there isn't a single element of CITIZEN KANE that isn't a stunning achievement in all areas of filmmaking.

CITIZEN KANE's storyline is deceptively simple. Even though the plot unfolds by jumping in and out of nonlinear flashbacks, it is surprisingly easy to keep track of. The straightforwardness and relatively fast pace of the story are what make it seem intimidating. Because everything moves smoothly along without any standstill, it feels like we are being fooled-like there is something much greater that we just can't seem to grasp. As a first-time viewer, I knew from its reputation that there must be something that separates this movie from all the others; something buried within its simple plotline that everybody else has seen, but that I just could not seem to get a handle on. And then, during those final frames, that something was revealed, and it all began to make sense. To me, it was these moments of confusion and uncertainty followed by a sense of enlightenment and appreciation that made watching CITIZEN KANE such a meaningful experience.

But no matter how great of a movie CITIZEN KANE really is, it can never live up to one's expectations. Although I do feel that it is deserving of its acclamation, the constant exposure to its six decades worth of hype and praise will invariably set most modern viewers' standards at a height that is virtually unreachable--even if it really is the best movie of all time.

good points. I think that for someone that doesn't realize WHY it is considered the best of all time is going to be disappointed. If someone thinks it will be "the best" based purely on entertainment value, they will be confused and disagree with the rank. I was.

Once it was pointed out to me that it is "the best" because of all the things that it invented in a way, and that it was so revolutionary for its time, then i started to understand a bit more.

I was never a huge fan of Orson Welles but this movie is definitely a special one, evidenced by all the times it has been referenced through the years on other outstanding shows and movies.

I saw it once. I understood the film but maybe I was too young to really appreciate it. Someday I will croos again with this movie and give it a second chance

I love old movies and every movie has a message that not everybody can understand. But they will stay always unique reminding us of the good times :)

Citizen Kane. I am not a film student and i cant be one because i dont get to understand complicated stories. Though this looks like that but i will take it as a mysterious challenge to go through the film citizen Kane and figure things out. 80 years ago! Uff! The camera must not be that good but despite that you call it good that means it sure has something special. So i will watch it.

Hiii... Gooddream

Great Post

Old movies had really involved fun in it.
As it's one of oldest movies from year 1940 but still looks modern. That is fantastic .

I own a little interest in acting and dram, considering it I have recently joined a drama club of my college, They have asked me to watch and understand certain great films, this blog will definitely help me out , that's an amazing piece of information for sure:)

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