Citizen Kane - Welles

The Hype -

No.1 on the TSPDT 1,000 Greatest Films.

Andrew Sarris -

"Citizen Kane is still the work which influenced the cinema more profoundly than any American film since Birth of a Nation."

Pauline Kael -

"Orson Welles film is generally considered the greatest American film of the sound period, and it may be more fun than any other great movie. Citizen Kane is perhaps the one American talking picture that seems as fresh now as the day it opened. It may seem even fresher."

Sight and Sound Magazine:

"Dazzlingly inventive, technically breathtaking, Citizen Kane reinvented the way stories could be told in the cinema, and set a standard generations of film-makers have since aspired to. An absorbing account of a newspaper tycoon's rise to power, Orson Welles' debut film feels as fresh as tomorrow's headlines. And he was only 26 when he made it."

The Reality - Good? Yes. The Greatest film ever? Hardly. It has a good script, a few great scenes, some good lines, and some dazzling camera shots. But its dated and the story and characters are mediocre. Over the space of 119 minutes we follow Charles Foster Kane and his rise and fall. There is no suspense since the movie tells us Kane's Life story twice. Once at the beginning in a satirical Time newsreel - then in more detail through flashbacks. Kane himself - although charming at the start - soon becomes an arrogant, bitter old man. Even more dis-likable is Dorthy Comingore (Susan Alexander) who makes an obnoxious character even more so. As for Cotton, he does what he can with the priggish, self-righteous "Jedidiah" - but is defeated by the script.

So after all the hoopla about camera angles and deep focus photography, what is point of the story? The point in 1941 was to attack William Randolph Hearst, a powerful media mogul hated by most of Hollywood and the Left. But that attack and Hearst himself, hold no interest 60 years later.

Ingmar Bergman's overstates it a bit ( Welles' performance is very good) but speaks a Truth about Citizen Kane:

" For me it's just a hoax. It's empty. It's not interesting. It's dead. Citizen Kane, which I have a copy of - is all the critics' darling, always at the top of every poll taken, but I think it's a total bore. Above all, the performances are worthless. The amount of respect that movie's got is absolutely unbelievable.


The Real Reason Its Rated Highly - Landmark film, check. Great Director, Check. Great film Technique, check. Left-wing politics, check. Plus, Kane has something for everyone as the Number 1 film. Its been the No. 1 film for almost 50 years - so its a safe choice. Its an American film but not pro-American. Its left-wing but not overtly so. Its full of great technique but also has some good performances. It brings recognition to poor Orson Welles. Above all, Film professors and buffs can talk for weeks about the politics, the background, Welles, the making of movie, Hearst, Toland, the sound, the camera angles, the brilliant technique.