Citizen Kane Reflection

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

At the end the film we are visually told a strong message that a man isn’t necessarily the sum of his achievements, possessions, or actions, but that something deeper must drive him. Kane was more than his public accomplishments is the last word Kane uttered: “Rosebud.” Kane’s life story unfolds in layers through the reporter Thompson's investigation and is told by a succession of people who were close to him. Kane never gets to tell his own life story, and we must wonder how much his telling of it would differ from the reminiscences of his associates. None of these people ever really knew what drove Kane to do the things he did. Only Thatcher would have had the chance to fully understand Kane, but he was too concerned with making money to have any compassion for a lonely child. He viewed Kane through a distant, mature lens of acquisition and conservatism. The differing perspectives on Kane’s life, especially in the absence of Kane’s own point of view, force us to question what was truly important in the life of Charles Foster Kane as well as to ponder what constitutes a life in general. Judging by Kane's last word, the most important pieces of his life were not the things that made him newsworthy, such as his newspaper successes and political ambitions, nor his friendships and associations. Instead, as Kane's life comes to an end, he grasps at a memory from his

Charles Kane, a newspaper mogul, died at his home in Xanadu. His last dying words were ‘Rosebud’ which no one had any idea what they meant. A newspaper reporter is given the task to investigate what the word meant. He had to interview many people including Kane’s friends like Jedediah Leland and his concubine Susan Alexander who only shed some light on the mystery of Kane’s life but no information about the Rosebud word. Citizen Kane is the movie that has received lot applause for centuries despite flopping at the box office in 1941. The narrative structure line non-linear form, the mise-en-scene composition, and the cinematography put the film in high regard.

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

Citizen Kane is filled with symbolic imagery. In most of the movie you can pick out scenery, character actions, lighting, camera movement, and the composition within the frame of key shots that help tell the story without the character orally telling the full story. However, because of its new and experimental use of mise-en-scene, the movie did not do well in the box office. In time Orson Welles movie would become one of the best movies of all time and would even come to change filmmaking in

All Charles Foster Kane wanted was the life he lived before Thatcher came and took him away. He has been rebelling against Thatcher his whole life, because he believes it’s his fault for taking him away from his family. He uses the newspaper business he took over as a way to get back at Thatcher. He encourage a war with Spain, and tries to ruin Thatcher's political goals and

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

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

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.

Orson Welles’ 1941 classic film Citizen Kane tells the story of Charles Forster Kane. The turning point of the film is when Jim Gettys attempts to blackmail Kane. The scene demonstrates Kane’s fall from grace through pride. His reactions to the other characters in this scene (Mrs. Kane, Susan Alexander, and Mr. Gettys), the angles that are shown in his perspective, and the lighting of the scene helps to demonstrate this point. It is after the blackmail scene that, in desperation, Kane tries to regain his credibly with the public and

     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

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

Citizen Kane is the story of the newspaper tycoon, Charles Foster Kane, and the meaning of his last words before he died. A group of news reporters are determined to figure out what Kane

Citizen Kane is a movie that can be rewritten and implemented into any film created today. In many ways, the storyline tells us more about ourselves than anything else and it relates to each one of us who has ever wished for a better life. From his flamboyant adventures to the blah blah to his political agenda in his later years. Every film that came after Citizen Kane owes a great deal to Orson Welles because of the way he used special effects, music, and shadows and lighting, which without a doubt makes it one of the finest movies ever made. Some even call it the Mona Lisa of its time because Orson Welles was the first to implement all of these techniques, which revolutionize cinema forever.