Citizen Kane
CITIZEN KANEÂ (U)
D:Â Orson Welles
RKO/Mercury (Orson Welles)
USA 🇺🇸 1941
119 mins
Drama/Biopic
W:Â Orson Welles & Herman J.
MankiewiczÂ
DP:Â Gregg Toland
Ed:Â Robert Wise
Mus:Â Bernard Herrmann
PD:Â Van Nest Polglase & Perry
Ferguson
Cos: Edward Stevenson
Orson Welles (Charles Foster
Kane), Joseph Cotten (Jedediah Leland), Dorothy Comingore (Sudan Alexander), Everett Sloane (Mr. Bernstein), Ray Collins (Boss J. W. Gettys), George
Coulouris (Walter Parks Thatcher), Agnes Moorehead (Mary Kane), Paul Stewart (Raymond), Ruth Warrick (Emily Norton Kane), Erskine Sanford (Herbert Carter)
Less a film in the traditional sense and much more a work
of art.
Narratively, the film holds less weight than it did in
1941, but is still a landmark picture on the process and execution of filmmaking and production.
A (fictional) biopic of Charles Foster Kane, told in
hindsight after the newspaper tycoon passes away, uttering "Rosebud" as his final words, leaving a team of reporters interviewing those he knew to uncover the meaning of the last thing he
ever said, with flashbacks of Kane's life from childhood to political scandal and adoption by a newspaper tycoon to be his heir to his failed marriages.
The film received much controversy upon it's release for
having parables with real-life politician William Randolph Hearst, who disowned the film and campaigned to have it suppressed.
Away from the scandals of the 1940's, the movie is enjoyed
by film buffs as one of the all time masterpieces, voted #1 film of all time by the American Film Institute, where it's place has only very recently been usurped. It's probably an
understatement to admit that this a film which will be less enjoyed by modern audiences but deemed a true work of art by film historians & movie snobs (I am a movie snob).
10/10
