Summary of the Film 1. The contributors to the film are Orson Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz. Welles is the director and writer, and Mankiewicz is also one of the writers. 2. The main characters are Orson Welles (Charles Kane), Joseph Cotten (Jedediah Leland), and Dorothy Comingore (Susan Alexander Kane). 3. The main source of conflict is Kane trying to hide his affair with Susan from the print media. He does not want the scandal to ruin his chances of becoming governor of New York. Another conflict is a reporter trying to discover what the meaning of Kane’s last word, “Rosebud,” is. 4. A reporter has been assigned to discover the significance of Charles Kane's last word, "Rosebud." The reporter takes a look back at Kane's life to dissect his political career and love affair to find the answer. …show more content…
The main symbol that reoccurs in the film is a sled. The first sled is shown at the beginning of the film when Kane, as a child, is playing on it in the snow. This sled is a major part of Kane’s childhood because this specific sled made him feel joyous and lighthearted. The fuss about his last murmured word, “Rosebud,” is the name of Kane’s sled; it was meaningful to his life and is an important aspect of the film. The sled was later shown when Kane’s belongings were burned soon after he died. The sled represented Kane’s happiness and innocence. The film’s sound effects and instrumental music range from soft to loud, depending on the scenario. The music used is consistent with the situations that occur. For example, the music playing while young Charles Kane is being told that he has to go away with his mother’s banker is smooth and then becomes intense. During this scene, the viewer can hear a combination of instruments such as flutes, violins, and tubas. The powerful instrumental music lasts for a couple of minutes to emphasize how upsetting the news is for Kane. In general, the sound effects and music accentuate the emotions the characters are expressing or trying to
"I don't think any word can explain a man's life," says one of the searchers through the stockroom of fortunes deserted by Charles Foster Kane. At that point we get the celebrated arrangement of shots prompting the word's closeup "Rosebud" on a sled that has been hurled into a heater, its paint twisting in the blazes. We recollect that this was Kane's youth sled, taken from him as he was torn from his family and sent east to life experience
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
Each of the flashbacks are instigated by reporter Thompson as he meets with different people who were close to Kane to uncover the story of rose bud. As Welles explains: "They tell five different stories, each biased, so the truth about Kane, like the truth about any man, can only be calculated by the sum of everything that has been said about him."
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.
Charles Foster Kane is one of the wealthiest and dominant men in the US dies so a newspaperman decides to work in his death
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.
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.
When his second wife leaves him Kane realizes the corruption wealth has done on his life and says “rosebud” because he wants to return to his sled, his childhood, to return to the beginning when wealth has yet to corrupt him. Citizen Kane is the story of a man’s great ideas to make the world better, but unable to because of the corruption wealth brought him.
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.
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
No one can sum up a man 's life into one word. This was a thought--intriguingly an idea in the film that still resonates today in our society. Citizen Kane (1941) is an important film that reflected society 's false belief of the American Dream during its time. The film was directed and starred by Orson Welles and tells a story of a man name Charles Foster Kane, who had everything and who lived an ideal life that everyone wanted to have. However, having many fine possessions of things and a great deal amount of money at his disposal, did not make him happy. The film reflects on Mr. Kane 's life before his death and his legacy. Citizen Kane shows how during the era, people wanted to have financial security, happiness and to gain material success. Although the American Dream is still something people want today, Citizen Kane shows how attaining the American Dream was something less of a dream during its era. The film also show the changes of the American Dream from 'dream ' to 'myth ' and explores the dark side of the held belief.
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
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
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.
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