Citizen Kane (1941)

Director: Orson Welles

Starrin: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore

Following the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: ‘Rosebud.’

After many delays ‘Citizen Kane’ was met with controversy when it was finally released. The controversy mainly centered on the assumption the film was based on real-life newspaper tycoon William Randalph Hearst, who threatened to sue the production company if the film was released. As a result – and out of fear for Hearst – many theatres refused to screen ‘Citizen Kane’, resulting in the film becoming a box office flop. Apparently, the film was also booed at the Oscar ceremony.

Upon his death, the last word wealthy business magnate Charles Foster Kane uttered, was ‘Rosebud’. Now reporter Jerry Thompson is presented with the task of finding out what ‘Rosebud’ means. The film chronicles Kane’s life as Jerry investigates – from childhood until his death. (My burning question is, how did they know ‘Rosebud’ was his final words? In the film’s opening, Kane is shown dropping a snow globe, and uttering this word, but a maid only enters the room after his death. So, who actually heard him speak these words?)

The film was fairly interesting until Kane married Susan Alexander – the singer he had an affair with. The film then became her story – as an opera singer who doesn’t have the talent. Afterwards, I became bored. And when the great reveal finally came as to the meaning of ‘Rosebud’, I sat there thinking “Is this it?” I’m not going to spoil it for you, but it was almost as if the writer himself didn’t really know what it should mean, and he randomly selected what it meant. Why would a man who has accomplished so much in his life, be thinking about that during his final moments?? I mean, just why?? And how was it significant to his life? It’s a disappointing reveal.

Another thing that bugged me about the movie, was the lighting – or rather, the lack of it. I don’t know if Orson Welles did this intentionally, but often shadows were cast upon the actors faces making them unrecognizable. At times they were completely in the dark. Sorry to say, but this made the film look amateurish, and I found if off-putting and annoying.

The costumes were beautiful and I would have loved to see them in colour. The production design was also good, and Orson Welles delivered a good performance as Kane. In general, though, this is not my kind of movie. Just like the highly acclaimed ‘Casablanca’, I was not all that impressed with this supposed masterpiece that is ‘Citizen Kane’.

‘Citizen Kane’ received several accolades and won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (It also received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Leading Actor, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Score).

Would I watch it again? Nope.