Achievement or Enjoyment: The Debate Between Casablanca and Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane has long been regarded as a cinematic masterpiece and one of the greatest movies ever made. One look at the scene “Thatcher Taking Young Charles”, and you can see exactly why. The storytelling style of this film is a “successful fusion of the flashier devices of 1930s films, and techniques adapted from radio, theater, and prose narrative. “There is pro not a single device in Citizen Kane that cannot be found in earlier films, but Citizen Kane synthesizes elements of various traditions in a totally original way.” (Carringer,1978) This sequence makes use of various cinematic techniques to employ the auteur’s narrative.

For citizen Kane, the most important assets of his life are not the political ambitions, successful newspaper business, nor his relationships with the significant others. Judging by his last word, “Rosebud,” the most important piece of his life is memory from his childhood. Although his life is changed for what appears to be better, from a materialistic viewpoint, it actually leaves him vulnerable and alone. Kane’s life is ultimately destructed by his lust to fulfill the American dream of fame, power and wealth. The inevitable struggle of Kane is reflective of the struggle of many must confront in this materialistic world, as one on his or her quest to find the true meaning of

The first montage seen is the March of Time Newsreel. This reel is very important as it tells us that Charles Foster Kane dies and gives us a backstory on his ridiculous life. Another important montage in the story was after Kane got married to his first wife, Emily Kane. This montage shows him and his new wife happy at the table. Going through many weeks and months this montage shows the transition Kane and his wife has just through the being at the dinner table. At first, they are lovey dovey sitting close to each other, then Emily starts talking about how he is always at work which leads to them sitting away from each other by the end of the montage reading opposite newspapers. The montage are really important but the lighting allows the story to really stand

Citizen Kane was rife with innovations in cinematic technique and introduced many new and unique aspects of mise-en-scèné that would thrive in films to come. Orson Welles was a young visionary whose career had been limited to stage production and radio until his first film, Citizen Kane. Uniquely, as someone new to the film industry, he retained full creative control of his very first project, co-writing, producing, directing, and starring as Kane himself. This unfounded level of trust for a newcomer allowed Welles to trail blaze and experiment with techniques few other directors were willing to risk such as a non-linear story, narrative from multiple unusual character perspectives, unique blocking and lighting, deep focus, and

Citizen Kane begins the movie with an interesting opening of a man dying while saying his last words. This began the mystery of who was this man and what did he mean by his last words “rosebud”. In the next scene it jumps to a news article

The debate over Casablanca and Citizen Kane has been a classic argument between film critics and historians alike, and this is because both of these pieces are timeless pictures that have managed to captivate audiences well after their era. On a broad spectrum analysis this is an apples and oranges debate as the two films both have great cinematographic value but for different reasons. However, the real question at hand is which film is the greatest? Which film transformed the future of American film making? It is these questions that I as many others have, will attempt to answer in the following essay as I explain why I believe Citizen Kane is the greatest film ever made.

This movie is filled with series of magnificent shots creating a fascinating plot. For instance, a setting that vividly portrays the theme of the movie is Kane's palace, Xanadu, where the film director purposely chooses to show it at the beginning and at the end of the movie. This setting alludes that riches and power cannot buy or substitute love and Kane, throughout his life, never detains that most of the things he aspires so badly do not replace for what he could not perhaps get, the love of his mother and the loss of childhood. Another great examples of how setting can play a huge role in describing the theme of the movie are the following: the candidate Kane gaining control of New York Inquirer newspaper and running for governor of New York, the young boy playing in snow as his parents determine his future, and building a massive opera house for his second wife, black smoke blowing out the chimney of Xanadu palace. Overall, the film director chooses settings and events like these to realistically show Kane's changes from innocent young man to a wealthy egocentric

Lighting Techniques: The Black and White World of Citizen Kane Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane is revered for its inventive and sophisticated use of lighting schemes to bring a certain tone to the film that sound or mise-en-scene could not achieve. However, the frequent low-key lighting goes further than merely creating a mysterious, film noir-esque mood. Intense shadows coupled with bold highlights shape Welles’ black and white film into a black and white world, which in turn emphasizes Kane’s descent into a moral grey area by the end of his life. While the world around Kane remains clear-cut between “good” and “bad,” our perception of him lies in ambiguity, caught between our sympathy for his difficult childhood and our aversion to his older character.

His use of depth of field sets it apart from other films and very ground-breaking for its time. One specific scene that sticks out for me is when the banker Mr. Thatcher comes to have Mary Kane sign the papers for her new found fortune as well as send her son with Mr. Thatcher. In the Scene you can see the anguish in his father as to sending him away isn’t entirely what he wants to do yet it is ultimately up to Mary Kane because this new found fortune is only in her name. Along with that you see Charles Foster Kane through the widow playing in the snow and doesn’t have a clue as to what is

When discussing the greatest films of all time, Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, usually comes up. It’s influence in American cinema can still be felt today, but at the time the film was not released without controversy. The main character in the movie, Charles Foster Kane, is undeniably based of the real life figure of William Randolph Hearst, a famous American newspaper publisher. Hearst was very aware of this fact and tried to hinder the success of Welles’ picture by denying it any sort of press in his newspapers. Despite the smear campaign Kane’s influence lives on through Welles’ revolutionary filmic techniques and its presence in pop culture.

Citizen Kane, from a film technician’s perspective is essentially an incarnation of “cinematography” and “mise en scene” which is extensively used to convey meaning. In terms of cinematography, the use of “extreme close-up shot” on a person or an object gives it a great deal of “symbolic significance”. It is best illustrated in the opening scene where an extreme close-up shot accentuates on Kane’s lips, while he utters the word ‘Rosebud’ on his deathbed. This moment creates a sense of mystery as it is unexplained to the viewers because it occurs right at beginning of the film.

But it is precisely the way Citizen Kane's technique serves its story which makes the film so powerful. All right then, let's talk about technique. You can go to any number of textbooks and read about the various aspects of style which have made the movie influential - the deep focus photography, low angle shots and wide angle lenses, the use of ceilings, overlapping dialogue, sudden cuts, and so forth and so on. I don't need to go over all that. What I want to express is the effect of all these techniques on a viewer - and especially in the context of the kind of film a viewer in America was accustomed to in 1941 - the Hollywood

In 1941, the release of Orson Welles Citizen Kane saw the New York Times label it as the "riding crest of perhaps the most provocative publicity wave ever to float a motion picture”. Withstanding against contextual influences and alterations this historically epic melodrama has endured time, continuing to rouse meaning and differing interpretations for the individual of yesterday, today and tomorrows humanity. Setting precedent for a new world of cinematography to arise, Welles utilised the day’s context to create what was believed to be a political allegory warning against the dangers of isolationism. Nonetheless, as the decades roll on and society itself sees extensive, even transformative modifications the messages sensualised and

Through his 1941 film, Citizen Kane, Orson Welles’ portrays the complex nature of individuals as he explores the defining characteristics of the human condition through the depiction of the protagonist, Charles Foster Kane. The film’s enduring values is attributed to its explorations of relevant contextual concerns present throughout the 20th century and contemporary society. Through Welles’ use of innovative cinematic construction and textual flair, Welles highlights the complexities in shaping an individual’s identity, whilst also exploring the corrupting nature power has on an individual and their relations.

“Citizen Kane,” a masterpiece film of Orson Welles' creation, utilized a number of film making techniques that in 1941 were nothing short of revolutionary. His use of unorthodox narrative styles and film making techniques convey nearly as much to the viewer as the narrative itself. Traditionally, films were shot in an easy to follow, chronological format. Films began at point A, proceeded to point B, and ended at point C. “Citizen Kane” turned the chronological narrative on its head.