Citizen Kane
by Jason Walsh
Citizen Kane
by Jason Walsh
Citizen Kane was Orson Welle’s 1941 breakthrough movie that explored new directions in filmmaking. Techniques in cinematography never done before were implemented along with Welles’ unique vision of chronicling the plot. Beginning the story with the main character’s death, the movie then progresses randomly with the events of Kane’s life, in a meaningful, predetermined order. Welle’s sequencing of quick scenes was another powerful tool that told a great deal of the story in short spans of time. They effectively broke up the main scenes and passed much information between different points in the movie. This movie changed the way filmmakers looked at creating films. The beginning of the film transmitted a dark and eerie feeling through its music and set design. The viewer slowly ascends on Xanadu, the utopian castle of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, played by Orson Welles. This first scene shows the grounds in a haunting and dilapidated manner, while later in the movie the viewer sees the castle in its original glory. The music selected for this scene emitted the dark themes that Welles wished to convey. An end, but this was just the beginning. Quickly, the movie catapults into a convincing newsreel segment, which effectively mocked the real ones of the time. The public history of the main character is presented. The texture and film quality of the scene mirrored actual 1940s news pieces. With minimal film manipulation technology, Welles was able to put his character Kane in quick segments with leaders of the day, such as Adolph Hitler and the Roosevelts. This was impressive editing considering the limitations of the film industry at that time. Every scene in the film was carefully constructed by Welles. His dynamic use of "mise en scene" put powerful themes in each scene. The scene when Walter Parks Thatcher, played by George Coulouris, comes to take young Kane from his parents is a good example. Welles effectively placed the four characters at different depths in the shot. Kane is oblivious in the snow, representing his innocence. Father is detached, away from all characters. Mother and Thatcher conspire in the frame’s foreground. When the deal is made, Kane’s defeated father shuts the window, and thus, shuts himself away from his son. The field of depth and ability to focus on all three planes was a new technique to the industry. The sequence of the plot and search for the meaning of Kane’s dying quote, "rosebud", seems to be a distinct influence on another film called Immortal Beloved about Ludwig Van Beethoven, played by Gary Oldman. In this film, "rosebud" is Beethoven’s "immortal beloved". The way the plot unfolds in both films is strikingly similar, and the importance of the phrases is mystifying until the end of both films, where they become blatantly obvious. When I watched Citizen Kane, this was my most prevailing thought throughout the movie.