As a former film critic, I’ve seen countless movies, the good, the bad, the indifferent, and ones that made me want to hurl something at the screen for stealing time from my life that I could never have back. One of the best things about not being a film critic any more is that I don’t have to see movies I know will be bad, or I can walk out of ones that surprise me with their awfulness.
Like most of those who have responded to this Open Call, I find it exceedingly difficult to pick just one film out of so many that mean different things to me. It is akin to picking a favourite book or author out of a host of old friends. Prevaricating preamble aside, my pick for the most satisfying movie on all levels, and one that no matter how many times I see it I’m always instantly drawn into it again, is Citizen Kane. Aside from being director/co-writer Orson Welles’ masterpiece – in the true sense of the word, not the hackneyed movie studio ad sense – it is a truly American tale of success and failure on a grand scale. Although he couldn’t have known it at the time, Welles’ film paralleled the tragedy of his own life as a wunderkind to the abject betrayal of his talent in later years. As he was fond of saying, he started at the top and worked his way down.
Newspapers are made of this
The story of the making of Citizen Kane, based on the life of newspaper and publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst, is the stuff of legend that could easily be turned into a gripping movie of its own. The forces that the Hearst empire and Hollywood marshaled against Welles and the release of Citizen Kane were formidable, and foreshadowed the difficulties Welles would experience creatively and financially for the rest of his career. Citizen Kane made him a star and a pariah, two opposites he was never able to reconcile.
So many memorable cinematic moments abound in Citizen Kane that it’s difficult to narrow them down to a few. Some of my favourites are the newsroom scenes – I’ve never seen a movie that crystallizes the excitement, chaos and cynicism of the newsroom so perfectly as Citizen Kane. I love the breathtaking clip of scenes that show the rise of the young Kane’s newspaper empire, his brashness, his sure grasp of what people want to read and not necessarily what they need to read. The idealist/critic in me cheers when Kane’s best friend and theatre critic (Joseph Cotton) gives Kane’s wife the vicious review she deserves for her disastrous operatic debut, knowing full well what that action will cost him. Another favourite scene is when one of Kane’s former newspaper editors is interviewed in a nursing home by the reporter on the memory trail of finding out what “Rosebud” means:
Bernstein: “A fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry, and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in, and on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on. She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all, but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl.” The ordinariness of that scene, the distillation of the wondrous ways in which our minds work, has always stuck with me.
Seminal scenes in movie history
Then there are the seminal scenes of movie history: Kane and his first wife eating, each at either end of a very long table; Kane, the multi-millionaire, fashioning himself into a politician of the people on the stump; Kane’s talentless second wife, Susan, being tutored by an exasperated opera teacher; Kane and Susan languishing in Xanadu as his debts mount and her jigsaw puzzle grows; Xanadu crammed with every possible objet d’art, statue and animal representing a man who owns everything but possesses nothing of emotional value; and the final scene of the emblematic sleigh. The mystery of “Rosebud,” the last word uttered by the dying Kane in the first frame is left ambiguous as these things must be left.
Citizen Kane is really about two men, the one who created it, and the one it was based on, but it is also about the ephemeral nature of life -- the pleasure and pain that must be grasped in equal measure to fully experience it, and the unknowable mystery of each human being.
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Comments
But that isn't the opening scene.
Personally, I make it an annual ritual to watch Kane on New Year's Day every year. It's one of those movies though, like the original version of "The Women", that have become part of the main course of what I will watch over and over again. Howard's End and Remains of the Day are among the Kane-esk movies in my life... and there are others, of course.
You are a fine film critic. I like the older films and this is a classic. So many new films, all action,action, shoot, shoot, bang, bang, gore, gore car chase, car chase, do little to entertain me. The old films have plot, plot, think, think, feel, feel. I like that much better.
Rosebud.
I love Kane and its parallels and they stay in my head all the time. "Good ol' Charlie Kane" is a phrase that pops in whenever I start to feel full of myself. Ultimately, it's a cold film and that makes it hard to watch. But it is a film filled with virtuoso performances that hit right on the mark and stay with you forever.
I'm dying to know what you thought of The Pillow Book.
This is my fav film and I don't know many people who have seen it.
Movie critic has always been my secret dream job!
The Bernstein scene you mention is beautiful is its writing, acting and simplicity. Also, I love how Welles/Toland played with light and shadow, and used both as symbolism of the characters. One specific scene is Kane finishing Leland's review. Welles's face is crossed with shadow, while Leland has a spot full on his face.
Oooo you sly fox
Viewed narrowly as a film only, it remains an impressive and influential piece of film-making. Camera angles and lighting were far ahead of standards of the time. The writing was certainly far above most Hollywood fare of that era.
But viewed with brutal honesty, it seems heavy-handed by contemporary standards, a sin consistent in Welles work, possibly because he was more of a theater person than a movie person. One scene in particular strikes me this way.
Welles goes on an angry tear, trashing everything in the room, scattering knick-knacks and overturning bookcases -- the kind of behavior necessary to convey rage on stage. But that rage is conveyed much more effectively in movies by small movements -- Nicholson raising an eyebrow or Eastwood's stony silence or DeNiro's burning glare.
Granted, I've seen Welles scene played out again and again in other movies where an actor goes on a room rampage, but I always have to restrain myself at laughing at these scenes.
The beauty of movies is the intimacy of the camera which allows internal dialogue to be as important as words and actions. For me, that is what's missing from Citizen Kane, though I still applaud it as one of my all-time favorites.
caruso: Thanks for the save. I mistakenly picked the wrong clip from several I was looking through.
Padraig: I am looking forward to reading your review.
MJM: Remains of the Day is another of my faves -- the acting is so spectacular it takes my breath away. I have a friend who watches a Rich and Famous, a fairly bad but entertaining movie every New Year's Eve. I also like High Season because it has Jackie Bisset and fabulous Greek scenery. That's an evening of total escapism.
new blog: For the same reason they make people read Shakespeare and Dickens I guess.
michael: I agree that some of the old movies have a lot more character, plot and feeling than so many of today's CGI-generated flicks.
OESheepdog: I'd like to see it on the cover, too. But competition is stiff.
Harry: I love talking about movies. Throw in a bottle of wine and a good meal and it's my idea of bliss. I agree that CKane is a little chilly in tone but that was the nature of the man it profiles. I also think the deep-focus technique adds to the detached feel. The performances warm it up enough for me.
cartouche: Thanks, dahling. Compliments from you are always meaningful because I know you don't hand them out that easily.
kitehlips: I never saw Pillow Book but Greenaway has always been a tough sell where I'm concerned. He's more to be admired than appreciated. He is one of a kind, tho, and I'm glad he is continuing to make films his way.
Bill Beck: Every time I watch CKane I see something incredible I hadn't noticed before. That is always a sign of great art.
Stim: And the irony is, that was the last contract he ever had in Hollywood. Yes, the use of light in this film is pure genius. The scene you mention with Kane and Leland is one of my favourite movie moments ever on so many different levels.
Tom: I agree that Welles doesn't fully embrace the subtlety of film acting in Kane, but I would argue that he improved in his later films despite a penchant for certain "dramatic" scenes. One of the problems with groundbreaking art of any kind is that it is imitated so greatly that when you look at the original, it seems outdated!
aka.Kalvin: excellent analogy although I wasn't that keen on Fight Club the movie either. I agree about Dorian Gray and Rebecca. My favourite Hitchcock film is still Psycho and that's despite having seen it dozens of times in film school.
You touched on the core reasons why Citizen Kane is the greatest American film of all time: It was technically ahead of its time; there have been few ensemble acting performances of such overall quality; the stories of both Kane and Wells are mythical and uniquely American tragedies.
My favorite sequence, the Mr. & Mrs. Kane dinner table montage, is one of the best pieces of editing since Battleship Potemkin.
As several posters have noted, what is most amazing is the long reach of this films influence in acting, cinematography, set design and editing. I cant imagine Shoot the Piano Player, Breathless or even Reservoir Dogs without Citizen Kane.
Asking you to write more film critiques is like as coogansbluff or myself to cook but please do. You do it so well!
One I need to revisit. Thanks for such a comprehensive look back into a gripping film.
Patrick: Very nice to meet you too. It's always so wonderful to meet people who like film as much as I do.
JustCathy: CKane is a film that improves each time I watch it.
You're right about the innovations Kane made. They became so commonplace, it's hard for a modern audience to fully appreciate how revolutionary the film was. In a real sense, Kane is a special effects film. The use of matte shots and, as you state, Toland's use of deep focus, give the impression of grandness and immensity where none existed. This is true movie magic.
There's one sequence that has always stayed with me: the scene early in the film when Kane's parents are discussing his future with Thatcher. They are seated around the table while Kane plays in the snow outside (with his sled). The deep focus makes it seem as though the boy is standing there on the table, as if he is a pawn in some game being played by his parents and Thatcher. This is deliberately recalled later in the film when we see Kane walking back and forth through his office.
Okay I'm babbling. This is truly a landmark work of art.
MJwycha: Your comments are dead on -- I love the scene that you mention, too. I almost posted the clip but decided I had enough alteady.
I particularly valued your comment about Welles' innovative film technique. What makes that particularly remarkable is that Welles' innovations were not grounded in the limited photographic technology of the day, as many of Hitchcock's were. I think many of Hitchcock's fine films appear dated today because of improving rear screen projection capabilities.
Either way, 10,000 apologies. I feel like an ass. I'll now make a concerted effort x2 to watch Citizen Kane by the end of the week.