Citizen Kane: No One Really Knew Him

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.

With owning his company Mr. Kane would publish ridiculous stories about people in them. Kane began to develop a thirst for more power. Kane had married the president's niece to gain political acknowledgment. Doing so later on he then ran for Governor of New York. Therefore both characters hold much power as adults. Not only are these two characters similar but they are also very different.

Thompson learns that Kane’s childhood began in poverty in Colorado. His mother sends Kane away, at age of 8, to live with Walter Parks Thatcher, a successful banker, so that he can have a better life and may be better educated. This involuntarily abrupt separation keeps him growing into the petulant, insatiable, and aggressive adolescent he is today. Growing up, Kane never develops any emotionally attachment to Parks Thatcher and he disregards Thatcher’s any attempts at discipline and

The structure in the film Citizen Kane is non-linear in that it does not follow any planned order. The story is well formulated and presented using flashbacks that pertain different times in the life of Kane (Welles). These flashbacks are unplanned search that they offer the viewer an incomplete glimpse of Kane’s life and essentially adding more suspense. It takes the form of the memory when a person tries to remember an event that took place a long time ago. The use of the non-linear structure helps to portray how complicated the life of Kane was. It is vital to note the film uses several narrators. The mystery of Kane’s life is also being put together like a puzzle (Welles). The audience is with the journalist in the quench to find what the mystery word meant to Kane. The layout of the story is also planned with

I believe that the author portrays Charles Kane as sort of an evil man through the things he does, but shows that Kane doesn’t realize how he is behaving is wrong. One example of this would be how he ran his newspaper company the New York Inquirer (Citizen Kane). He presented the news in the best way possible to get as many people as he could to read it. Even if he had to lie a little bit in the title or in the actual stories, all he cared about was being everyone’s main source of news. This however was the opposite of what he originally wanted to do which was to present only honest and true news. One time he lied about the news was in relation to his second wife Susan Alexander. She was not a very skilled opera singer as told by the

I also like how there are two intertwined plots throughout the film, that of Kane’s life and that of Thompson trying to figure out what rosebud means. I have seen Citizen Kane before and watching it for a second time was much better. I was able to pick up on details that I was confused by before. One of these was the seemingly random screeching cockatoo towards the end of the film. Watching the other students’ reactions made me realize what this cockatoo was for. After it appeared on screen many people shot up as it seemed they were falling asleep or

The first flashback in the film is when the reporter reads the “Walter Parks Thatcher” records. This mainly detailed out the first encounter Mr. Thatcher had with a young boy named Charles Kane and how Mr. Thatcher became the guardian of Charles Kane. Additionally, the audience learns what Charles Kane wanted to do in life as a young entrepreneur in writing newspapers. The next flashback is of a different view from Mr. Bernstein. This flashback revealed Mr. Kane’s success with the New York Inquirer, and his first marriage with Emily. Also, Mr. Kane started collecting valuables and couldn’t really maintain relationships with other people. In the next flashback from the view of Mr. Kane’s friend Mr. Leland, continues on with Mr. Kane’s relationship of his wife Emily. In this scene though, the film uses the same setting at different times of both of them at a table. It appears they were going through the years of the same issue; Mr. Kane enjoys more time at work than with Emily. In another flashback, the audience continues to learn Mr. Kane’s love for himself while trying to run for governor but meeting his soon to be wife Susan. His opponent blackmails him in giving up running for

In the closing of the newsreel we find ourselves in a room full of highly shadowed journalists, with little to no recognizable faces. Reporter Jerry Thompson is directed by his editor to pursue ominous feel as we are slowly taken closer to Kane’s mansion and are shown a lite window which fades to black, and snowflakes suddenly fill the screen. As the camera pulls back, a snow-covered cabin comes into view. The camera pulls back more quickly to show that what we have been looking at is actually just a scene inside a snow globe in the hand of an old man. The story of Kane’s dying words and from there we are taken back to Kane’s youth through the innovative use of flashbacks, which are instigated by Thompson as he meets with different people who were close to Kane.

Mr. Kane exclaims, “I can fight this all alone…I’m Charles Foster Kane! I’m no cheap crooked politician trying to save himself from the consequences.” (Citizen Kane) Though Mr. Kane was by no means a perfect character, up until this point he could be viewed as the “good”, slightly above average, citizen. But as this scene plays out, he begins to show his darker side to the audience.

     Citizen Kane is set at a time in American History where the world is changing and money is at the center of that world. For example, during this period of time wealth has become more important in America has more new money arrives. Kane is a part of this new money sweep across America and like everyone else is stretching his power and wealth. He stretches it so much that he loses sight of his objection, which is replaced by his obsession to be in control and make all the decisions, a power which he finds through wealth. But it is because of this obsession that his idealistic world is corrupted. Furthermore, the film revolves most around a newspaper. A newspaper reaches everyone and during this time one of the only few mass media. It is through the newspaper that Kane stretches his wealth and influence. He is corrupted by the power that the newspaper gives him. In addition, Kane is constantly surrounded by beautiful things and people, until the end of the movie when

Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, Americans have idealized the journey towards economic success. One thing people do not realize, however, is that that journey is not the same for every individual. For Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), the main character of Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles, the path towards riches and a fulfilled life is being well liked. He serves to please others. He strives for that attention. This view cost him his happiness in the end. In this man’s rise and fall through prosperity, Welles shows the futility of striving solely for likeability.

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.

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

She arrives at the French court as a naïve young girl, who positions herself firmly against the ways of the court. Her strong moral code and stubbornness make her admirable and charming. As time progresses, though, the experiences she makes corrupt her gentle and innocent personality. Kane manages to portray that inner struggle very convincingly. She is placed in situations where her idealistic mind-set is put to the test and breaks under the pressure of there being no right way to go. She becomes more detached and cruel with every new threat she takes on. Despite that, she is benevolent towards her allies and subjects, and still believes that she should protect those, who cannot protect themselves. This makes her such an interesting

In Citizen Kane, Welles is attempting to expose the great influential political and social power that someone has as the head of many newspaper chains. This narrative drama explains the life of Kane and how different people viewed it. From the way the way the characters were telling the story to the way shadows, lighting and the laco of color was used, this film fits into the drama genre. Being the “greatest film of all time”, Citizen Kane brings the the world of newspaper tycoons to