Nominated in: 1942
Did it win? No, the Oscar went to How Green Was My Valley
Worth watching: Yes
Standout performance: Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane
Watchfl’s favorite quote: “You just want to persuade people that you love them so much they ought to love you back. Only you want love on your own terms.” – Joseph Cotten
My Citizen Kane rental came with two DVDs: the film itself and a 1995 Best Documentary Oscar winner about the production process, called The Battle Over Citizen Kane. I highly recommend the pairing.
Citizen Kane is an ingenious movie, but I don’t think I can get into why without first discussing the genius of Orson Welles. Welles was 24 years old during the making this movie (his first), and given complete creative control by RKO Studios. He filled the roles of producer, screenwriter, director and star. That is impressive enough, but add to that the fact that Citizen Kane is still considered by many the best film of all time in each of those categories.
Orson Welles masterfully plays his first screen role of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane in three stages of life. The film, inspired by the life of real publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, begins with Kane’s lonely death in an opulent California mansion. He drops a snow globe to the floor and utters the mysterious last words, “rose bud”. Obituary headlines flash across the screen and we learn more about Kane. He got his start with the purchase of one small newspaper and built an empire that included radio stations, factories, real estate and an opera house. He was twice married, twice divorced. An affair cost him his shot at the presidency. He lost much of his fortune toward the end of his life and became a hermit.
The entire film was tidily summarized in about five minutes, but then the real story of this man began. One reporter covering Kane’s death decides to investigate the meaning of his last words and begins a series of interviews with those close to him. Each interview spawns a flash back in the life of Charles Foster Kane.
We learn that his parents sent him away as a child, against his will, to live with a wealthy guardian who left him a fortune. It seems Kane was only ever happy when he had family, and before he came into money. We watch him make decisions, both business and personal, torn between relationships and ambition. One by one, his choices lose Kane the respect of those he cares about lead to a life of isolation. The overt theme is a familiar one: money can’t buy happiness. Or love.
Many characters in the film refer to Kane’s inability to truly love anyone. He prefers to buy people into loving him.
Most movies make a choice to be character-driven or plot-driven. There was certainly enough of a story in Citizen Kane rely on plot, but instead Welles chose to focus on Kane’s internal struggles, which I found much more interesting. We can understand Kane’s motivations, and we ache because we know his choices will never make him happy.
Predictably, Kane dies alone. Unpredictably, the reporter never discovers the meaning of “rose bud,” but we do! Instead, he finds the story of a man’s life more meaningful than that of his death, and that a man’s last words can never tell you as much about him as his friends can. Or can they?
Unfortunately, Orson Welles was never given control of another film again. William Randolph Hearst was so outraged by his portrayal (and that of his mistress), he forbade his newspapers from mentioning Citizen Kane and accepting advertising from any theater that showed it. Instead, his reporters were commissioned to write articles about Welles’ “Communist activity,” and he was essentially blacklisted. Although the film did manage a number of Oscar nominations, it only won Best Original Screenplay, and Welles himself was snubbed. Apparently you could hear boos from the Oscar audience at any mention of the film during the ceremony.
Citizen Kane probably should have swept its categories, and probably would have if it was made today. Of all its nominations, though, it’s a crime it did not win Best Art Direction. Citizen Kane was way ahead of its time in terms of cinematography, and if you watch it you’ll see what I mean immediately. Nearly every camera shot helps tell the story in an interesting way.
In the end, though, Citizen Kane and Orson Welles won. The movie only gained popularity as it aged, and now has all the recognition it deserves.
1 Comment
June 7, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I couldn’t agree more! I saw this film just last night and thought it was utterly fantastic.
Great post and keep up the good work!