Citizen Kane

When the beginning of Citizen Kane first came on, I couldn’t help but dislike the fact that the entire movie was shot in black and white. Being born within the last 25 years, I often associate black and white entertainment with boring entertainment. I was very wrong about that. “If the film is great, black and white don’t mean squat”, might be my new motto. Citizen Kane begins mysteriously with Charles Kane dying alone in his palace, only muttering the barely audible word “rosebud” before he drops a snow globe and dies. If you have not heard a background of the film, you have no idea what just happened to who. But a news reel in honor of Charles Kane is shown, actually giving some foresight to the movie ahead. The story picks up with a news reporter baffled that Charles Kane’s last word was “rosebud”. Who was rosebud, what was rosebud, why in the world would he say that?

It seems as though the movie will now be from the news reporter’s viewpoint and events. But it quickly goes back in time to Kane’s childhood as his life takes a dramatic turn. His mother and father have just “auctioned” him off to a very wealthy man, Mr. Thatcher, much to Kane’s bitter distaste. So much so that he uses the sled he is playing with to beat his new guardian to the ground. But Kane is taken in and his life is turn upside down. The movie jumps to a young-adult Kane who tells his guardian he thinks it would be “fun” to run a newspaper. We catch the first glimpse of Kane’s personality there. Kane buys the newspaper and turns it upside down with the help of his friend Jed and manager Mr. Bernstein. He becomes an entrepenuer, opening many other stores and basically managing America’s media. Returning from a trip from Europe, he brings home a girl he has met, and eventually marries her. The marriage turns sour after he meets a young, ammature singer. The affair is made public due to his political oppenet for governer, Gettys (a corrupt man)tells him to either drop out or he will publish the article. Kane’s stubborness does not let us down as he decides to keep running, and his marriage fails. A short time later he marries the singer. A series of events leads Kane’s career and reputation down the drain, and he even fires his best friend, Jed. The movie focuses on his wife, Susan, and her “singing” career. Her voice is below par and critics denounce her greatly, but Kane is set on turning her into a star.

The last part features him and his wife alone in their private palace of Xenadu, and Susan quickly becomes bored. She eventually leaves him and he leads a lonely life until he utters the famous word, “rosebud”. The film cuts forward to the reporter talking to the butler about the famous last word, but no evidence prevails. It shows a glimpse into his castle, and the hundreds of statues he has collected. The camera slowly moves overhead to his childhood sled, shown early in the movie defending off Mr. Thatcher. It then shows an up-close shot of it being carelessly thrown into the fire. It seems that Rosebud was a symbol for everything that was torn away from him. A quote that summarizes this was when Kane said “I might have been a good man had I not been a wealthy one.” The acting was exceptional, especially Orson Welles playing young and old Mr. Kane. I give it a 8.2 out of 10, 10 being awesome and 1 being very poor. Watch it, preferably tonight.