Is citizen Kane the greatest film ever made? Film review

Is citizen Kane the greatest film ever made?

Citizen Kane opens with the viewing of an expensive looking building which appears to be abandoned and lonely, this works in sync with the next scene which portrays the death of a man, and snow globe that is seen deteriorating as it crashes to the floor, the fact this is shown in a close up shot emphasis’s the significance of the object making it seem sacred, this is a very obscure significance however it foreshadows the end of the film as it represents his childhood and resembles the scene revealing Kane as a child. The whole life of the man the story is based upon is revealed to the audience within the first five minutes of the film through the showing of a film reel ,which makes the real storyline the past of Kane, and how the events came together to create this story of confusion. The film reel itself is a narrative device as it conveys the story’s plot to the audience.

Citizen Kane follows the story of a group of reporters who view the film reel, just as the audience do, which simply reveals the life of a man named Charles Foster Kane, who is recently deceased, disappointment strikes the reporters as it doesn't inform the reporters on the in-depth story of who Kane really was. In a hope to discover the truth about this man they set off and do a series of interviews on those who have been close to Kane throughout his life to discover the mysterious ‘rosebud’, the dying words of Kane himself. In a winded path of misleading factors the reporters struggle to discover the truth, and the film consists of a chronological sequence of flashbacks of all characters interviewed, with each interview comes an extra piece of the puzzle which builds up to create the final truth of rose bud. Citizen Kane, an engaging and unpredictable ‘master piece’ realised in the early 1940’s, and often considered one of the greatest films of all times, which with feedback alone so highly rated it simply must be seen just to justify whether or not it deserves it’s places at the top of the list. Is it really a true perfection created by an outstanding genius? Or is it simply just another over rated disappointment lacking any form of entertainment?

With Citizen Kane being realised in the 1940’s bad effects are expected, simply due to the lack of equipment available during the time period, however this isn't the case with citizen Kane. Besides from the visually viewable old fashioned look given by the camera the effects are well disguised and reek with sophistication which leave the audience questioning how it was really done due to it being truly remarkable, especially for it's time. This level of advanced effects is even suitable for expectations of modern film. The main effect used throughout the film is a simple dissolve to pass through a passage of time; this can be viewed in the opening sequence as the camera tilts up to reveal an abandoned looking building. This is a simple yet an effective form of cinematography as it looks very professional and way ahead of its time without a great deal of effort, this is just one of the things which makes you truly appreciate the film and creates an enigma for the audience  as you watch in wonder of what it would be capable of being like in if recreated in modern day cinema. A wonderful example of editing in this film is elliptical editing, this is shown in a scene of Kane and his wife and it reveals the deterioration of their relationship as they go from star crossed lovers to none talking acquaintances, this is all shown through elliptical editing as it allows you to see time pass by through the shots. The clothing choice also emphasises the couple’s relationship as at first a real effort seems to be put into both characters appearances and as time progresses their costumes get more subtle and darker toned to represent the dying love.

Throughout the whole film Kane is often being portrayed in front of fire, this creates an impression of the character being devilish and evil, especially considering the candle lights in his home forms the shape of a devils fork. Therefore I think the lighting has a dramatic effect on the audience as it stands out with such precision, whether it is figures emerging from shadows or well-lit characters sitting in front of a homely fire. This is an aspect of the film which I found truly outstanding and different to any film I have ever seen, never have I spotted the lighting as the first key item in a frame, but as the lighting is used to such intensity it portrays feelings, emotions and even character personalities. A clear example of this is when Kane hits his wife, she brightly highlighted making her seem angelic and strong sympathy is felt for her, however Kane is shown to be almost completely obscured by the lighting portraying his inner evil.

The same effect is also created with the use of cinematography, it is used to see and feel obvious feelings, a good example of this is at the first interview conducted by Thompson, the camera goes in through a shattered window at a high angle, and the window in itself connotes depression and the woman being broken emotionally, which fits the character as she is drinking herself away at a lousy bar. The fact the high angle is used however show her vulnerability, creating a feeling of sympathy for the character, which is outstanding as the film can have an effect that strong simply through the use of a high camera angle.

I thought the actor taking the role of Kane was done to surgical precision, as the actor managed to portray Kane as a powerful and in control man, who slowly loses control throughout his life, this is clearly shown towards the end when he wrecks his room. I think this was the impression the director intended to be shown due to the low angles being used to make Kane appear to have authority and power, hence why the actor did an outstanding performance as the character.

However although this film deserves a strong praise it also has a high amount of negatives that must be touched upon, one is simply the structure of the film. This is confusing and throws you off course and just doesn't have a strong enough sense of encouragement to make you want to find your way through the maze of the story line. Unless you are fully aware of every situation and realise you are watching a load of over used flash backs you will experience a brain ache of bewilderment as you won’t understand if you are seeing the same character at a different period of their life or if you are seeing a completely new side of a story. The flash backs are slightly vague due to the film being in black and white, and stereotypically in modern film a distortion of colours will be shown as an effect indicating a flash back, this isn’t the case in citizen Kane as you are blind when it comes to uncovering a flashback. The flash backs are another form of a narrative device as it provides the audience with a substantial amount of information with each and every one which all adds to the plot.

Citizen Kane used a vast amount of extreme deep-focus photography which made everything in shot become significant, I found this to be a negative as it was too much information to take in and created an enigma as it resulted in curiously wondering where your eyes were supposed to be examining. On the other hand this was very artistic and worked powerfully to make the film unpredictable which made the ending seem more intriguing and mysterious. One scene in the film truly stood out, this is when Kane is being shown as a child. All is white, due to the snow, this connotes purity and happiness, however this is juxtaposed with the fact Kane is throwing snow balls at his mother’s building, and this allows the audience to see a sense of neglect from Kane's parents who seem to see him as a disturbance. The fact Kane is playing alone, with nothing but his sleigh also has a dramatic effect with the audience as it appears he was not given attention as a child, this is backed up by the fact his mother gives him up in this scene and also that his dad closes a the window on him which shows he wants to shut him out of his life. The deep focus photography is used here as his parents are discussing giving up Kane, who is clearly visible in the background and due to the brightly lit snow more attention is drawn to him. Once the film has come to an end a clearer understanding is provided as to why this scene is so powerful and important, this is due to the message behind Kane's life as even though he become rich and had all he desired he still died alone, longing for the memories of his childhood as they were the most special moments in his life.

Another negative was the unstructured perspective of who was telling the story, this becomes a negative due to the flashbacks as each character has their moment of telling the story and certain scenes are even replayed at different angles to show others perspective, an example of this is at the opera performance when two characters points of views are portrayed.

To summarize Citizen Kane it is a very artistic film, which challenged the norm of 1940’s cinema and had a huge impact on films, although rather impressive it does have a strong effect of boredom when there is a certain unawareness in the storyline, especially considering the length of the feature which is to dragged out and too much to handle in a single viewing. The film only starts to become intriguing in the last ten minutes due to the journey finally coming to end and the desperation of wanted to discover who rose bud was is finally at an end. The fact the film takes the route of not ending in restoration makes it unique from other 1940’s films which acted upon the films behalf to make it more successful, however this still doesn't make up for the over devolvement of story line never the less it is still as classic. The best part of this film was how unpredictable the whole thing was as the whole way through rose bud wasn't at all expected to be an object of childhood which hold a greater and significant meaning to Kane himself, and a sense of realisation is felt by the audience as finally everything adds up just from that one simple answer.Also, one of the final shots is a birds eye view of all the antiques Kane has collected over the years, this has a deeper meaning as it resembles Kane trying to fulfil the happiness in his life but even though the room is full it still seems so empty due to the lack of importance of the statues. This film deserves a spot on the best films list, however not the top spot as even though it changed cinema it doesn't quite meet the standards and expectations expected when watching ‘the greatest movie of all time’.