Directed, produced and starring Orson Welles, Citizen Kane is famous for the many remarkable scenes, cinematic and narrative techniques which help to revolutionized the film industry. Written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, filmed by Gregg Toland, Kane is brilliantly crafted remembrances of Mr. Bernstein’s investigations. Kane draws much of its magnetism from its deviation from classic ideals and it’s ability to start new ones. Welles uses film as an art form to communicate and display a narrative through imaginative Mise en scene, setting, sound, lighting, editing and performance. All of theses components together helped to create a story which is set off by Kane’s dying word Rosebud.
The structure of “Citizen Kane” is circular, adding more depth every time it passes over his life. The movie opens with newsreel obituary footage that briefs us on the life and times of Charles Foster Kane. The footage alone setup Kane as a media mogul. But as any good newspaper they wish to inquire about the man and who he really was. They provide a map of Kane’s life, and it keeps us oriented as the screenplay skips around in time, piecing together the memories of those who thought they knew him. Curious about Kane’s dying word the newsreel editor assigns Thompson, a reporter, to find out what it meant. Thompson is played by William Alland in monotonous role. He questions Kane’s alcoholic mistress, his ailing old friend, his rich associate and the other witnesses, while the movie jumps through time. Because the movie jumps throughout the life of Kane we slowly get the feeling that Kane is abandoned, even though he has so many friends. The arrangement of scenes through out the movie set it up to be one major flashback, but a unique flashback , one in which goes forward through time as it does go backwards into time. However, as the movie goes along and his empire gets to big it and he himself fall apart allowing for closure . The final scene which ends with a zoom out of Xanadu allows us to leave this story as we entered with a zoom in on
The Essay on Green Day – Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)
When prompted about a song that was important to me in high school, one song in particular comes to mind: “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day. Almost anyone who has contemplated the length and depth of life can relate to this gentle song with its slow, almost yearning tone and deep lyrics. To me, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” is a timeless ballad that never fails to comfort me ...
The movie had strong performances by the whole cast, but In one scene the Xanadu fireplace belittles Susan and she is methodically completing a jigsaw puzzle. Depicting an outdoor scene, the puzzle slowly comes together with a great usage of dissolve shots. However, the couple are denied excitement and joy even though they live in a castle. The fireplace room is vast and Wells uses low angles to show the distance between the two characters. The room however is huge and void, which helps to explain the relationship between Kane and his wife Susan. Linked by a dissolve, the following frame is a linear shot in deep focus with the bright light of midday casting thick, black shadows directly under the cars. With a snake like stream of cars on the beach resemble a funeral procession in their black, uniform order. The use of a blues music in the next shot allows for a flow of music which helps to portray the attitudes of Susan and Kane. The music also helps to foreshadow the inevitable break up of Kane and his wife. In this scene as in many others his structure of the movie is held together with pierces shots each one accentuating the scenery.
mainly Orson Wells and Everett Sloane, as Bernstein. Both men as well as Susan and Jedidiah Leland both of whom play significant roles in Kane’s life. Most impressive about the bunch was that most of them, like Welles, had never even set foot on a movie set before. Agnes Moore head, as Kane”s neglected wife, was an appropriately tragic character that furthered the movie’s tone. Welles’s ability to portray Kane as a power hungry media mogul. And his bellowing radio voice, help to make Kane’s self destruction all that more dramatic.
The Essay on Citizen Kane Movie First Tricks
"The more you see the more you know and the more you know the more you will see," that is what our textbook author, Lester, said. It combines great with the movie that we saw in the class, "Citizen Kane." I truly agree with that statement, as we see something more than one time, and we learn more about it, we understand and see more of interesting things that never appeared to us at first. I ...
“Citizen Kane” Although the movies’ title supposes that Mr. Kane is a citizen. But he never get to become the citizen that his newspaper writes to. He Lives his whole life above the ordinary, and he can never find a love that will satisfy him. The torment he puts himself through because he never had a normal child hood, compels him to take his money and invest it in his readers. The dark nature of Kane allows for the movie to go in many directions on screen. Welles’s ability to direct a cast of amatuers and create one of the all time greatest film. The fact that it wasn’t discovered as a piece of art until a couple of centuries later. Until another form of visual entertainment takes over the movie industry we can be assured “Citizen Kane” will always be seen as an example in film making.
