Directed by:
Orson WellesCinematography:
Gregg TolandComposer:
Bernard HerrmannCast:
Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, Paul Stewart, George Coulouris (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
psychological study of Charles Foster Kane, a powerful newspaper tycoon whose idealism was corrupted as he rose to enormous wealth and power. The story unfolds as a mystery: when Mr. Kane dies uttering cryptic last words, a magazine reporter interviews the tycoon's friends in an effort to uncover the significance of the word "Rosebud." (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
Citizen Kane is undoubtedly one of the gems of world cinema, and even though I am not giving it a full score, because I have seen (subjectively speaking) better films from the last century, it still deserves my admiration. From a technical point of view, this film is really well made, and there's probably no point in mentioning here the work with space, depth of field or cinematography - suffice it to say that in this respect Citizen Kane is a progressive film. As far as the plot is concerned, it is a very well-written story, told from multiple perspectives and inviting the viewer to take an active part in deciphering the mysterious word "rosebud". In short, a gem of world cinema, where perhaps only the running time and the expectation of something (relatively) perfect prevents me from giving it a full score.
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A very good film on the theme of "Having everything and having nothing", undoubtedly timeless, not only in terms of the way it looks and how imaginatively it is shot. But is it necessary to talk about it as the best film of all time? Ummm... Anyway, Orson Welles the actor transformed admirably during 120 minutes, while Orson Welles the director never once bored me during 120 minutes and always surprised me with something. And I finally know what a "bud" is, which was on my mind when I watched an episode of Columbo, and I also know what movie the Simpsons parodied in the Mr. Burns teddy bear episode.
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There’s in fact nothing to complain about. Citizen Kane is a phenomenon talked about in every movie lecture or a movie discussion. It is a movie which was, with its theme but also the filmmaking aspect, totally ahead of its time. Even though I don’t understand how Orson Welles was able to make movies in Hollywood in 1941 when the rest of the boys, even 10 years younger, were getting ready or were already on the battlefield in WWII, it must be acknowledged that he was in the right place at the right time. I don’t give it five stars for purely subjective reasons that the movie was not always able to hold my attention, which is often the case for me with movies from that era.
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In terms of American classics from the 1940s or 1950s, it can be difficult to find faults, but surprisingly, I see quite a few in Citizen Kane. However, I cannot fault anything in terms of craftsmanship because the camera work is incredible and the weaving and zooming takes one's breath away. In addition to that, the amazing masks greatly contribute to the atmosphere. Nevertheless, I have a feeling of a slightly inflated bubble in Citizen Kane, where several excellent scenes remain only islands in a stormy sea, and I cannot fully immerse myself in the film due to its unnecessary fragmentation, making it feel somewhat incomplete. The film lingers in my mind, but more as an extraordinary event rather than a gem. In this case, Orson Welles proved to be a better actor than a director.
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One of my big classic outstanding items that I kept putting off for a while until I finally couldn't take it anymore and I just had to get it and watch it. In many ways, it is undoubtedly a timeless work whose ideas fittingly reflect even today's media world. With a narrative style revolutionary for its time, consisting of newspaper articles, interviews, and memories of people close to the film, is certainly one of the many reasons why it is an absolute and much quoted classic even from today's perspective. The four stars are purely subjective, as it didn't grip me as much as I imagined it would.
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