Skip to content
Citizen Kane – 1941 Welles
- The film is nothing less than a perfect melding of cinematic ingenuity and narrative brilliance- both perfectly executed and daringly unique
- It’s jarring how different it looks than every other film before it and nearly every one since
- New angles and experimentation with miniatures, deep focus black and white photography
- The narrative flashback structure
- Heavy on montages but none of them throwaway or half hazard
- It begins Welles obsessions not only with windows (shots through windows and reflecting off windows) but mirrors as well (lady from shanghai)
- Certainly could be called, along with maybe raging bull, the best biopic or character study of all time
- The low angle shot at the campaign rally with Welles in the foreground and the massive poster of himself in the background stood out to me here
- Lots of crane camera shots here- shots of vastness and size
- One of the handful of best films of all time
- Masterpiece
Drake2017-04-17T14:36:56+00:00
Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!
In my top 15-20 of all time! However I haven’t seen this one for about a year now.
This was one of the first movies I ever watched. I expected it to be overrated and find it boring because of it’s reputation. The ending stunned me. The use of cinematography amazed me. Despite not knowing much about the art of film making, I still thought it was a top 5 of all time. The rosebud scene, The scene with the mirrors, the dimly lit rooms all amazed me. I would say citizen Kane is actually UNDERRATED because everyone except directors and critics call it overrated.
Drake how often do you re watch movies you really liked. You said the minimum amount of time you take between re-watches is 1-2 years. Whats the most time you take between re-watches? I haven’t seen Kane for a long time so I am not sure I could really give my opinion on it until I see it again. There are so many new movies to discover so I don’t know which ones to re-watch and how often I should. Haha.
@Azman– Good stuff here. Kane is a good test for people. if someone says it is overrated … it says more about them than the film (I’m not saying they have to think its the best)- but if they don’t think it’s at the very least a great film– well — they don’t know what they’re talking about
as far as rewatching– there’s never enough time to watch them all is there? I struggle with the same thing. I’m so overdue for so many.
I do think you have to be choosy at some point. It is your time– but selfish with it. I use metacritic — if it doesn’t have a good score, nobody i trust recommended it, and the director isn’t interesting… i’m passing
Yes I agree with the overdue part. For example I have ladri di biclette top 15 and it’s almost 2 years since I have seen it, yet i have to rewatch raging bull and watch it for the 3rd time in the last 6 months tonight to analyze it for a school project.
I believe a film’s true worth is revealed after rewatching it. However if it is truly a great movie, you’ll think it is a great movie upon 1st viewing even if you weren’t able to fully grasp everything on the 1st viewing. Do you agree?
For me there are very few times when the movie doesn’t get better upon rewatching it. I am often anxious to rewatch my favorite movies thinking I won’t like them as much, but I mostly end up adoring them.
@Azman– well if it makes you feel any better (it makes me feel worse- haha) I have that film in my top 15 and I haven’t seen it in 4 years…
… I’m not sure I agree on the idea that you’ll get a grasp of a film’s greatness on 1st viewing. There are too many factors– context (of the film, the viewer), Some people could come with no context or prior cinema knowledge or study into Kane for example and have no idea what they’re looking at. I’ve had a passion for cinema for 20 years and I still miss on films and filmmakers. The hope is, if we care and watch as much as you and I do– that becomes rarer and rarer. Jarmusch is a decent example I think- he has a unique rhythm, a brilliant formal filmmaker– not as openly bold as some— I had no idea what had hit me when I saw The Master in 2012 in theater. Ozu took me awhile. Dreyer’s Gerbrud…
you’re right about the test. if someone says they don’t like the movie they are an idiot if they’re being truthful but if they only say it sucks to go against the hype they are being dishonest and idiotic. it’s a shakesperean masterpiece and sure the camerawork is revolutionary, but we come here for a story that has more depth than most other films. as spielberg says, one of the great american experiences.
@ m — glad we’re on the same page here. Yeah- there’s bound to be some backlash against Kane as it was the Sight and Sound #1 film for 40 years (1962-2002) I believe. But if you don’t think Kane is a masterpiece– you have work to do in terms of learning about cinema.
@Drake. How long did it take you to appreciate Kane?
You thought it was the best movie ever? Did you think it was overrated?
What did you think the first time?
@Aldo- the first time I saw it I was just getting into film/cinema. I thought it was tremendously overrated, slow, etc. I had no idea what I was talking about.
Are you a self taught cinephile @Drake? What made you suddenly appreciate movies like Kane and the searchers after finding them overrated for the first time? I loved these movies the first time I saw them eventhough I was young and clueless about cinema.
You didn’t ask me @Azman, but I think we are all self-taught, as we watch more movies we have a better understanding of cinema, we are constantly learning
@Azman- I did study film in college— but I also agree with Aldo in terms of us being self taught. It is something you work at in my opinion.
the first time i saw citizen kane was on my phone and i thought it was good and that there were some really good scenes but i was tired and fell asleep. and finished it the next day. that was a terrible way to view. the second time it came on tcm and i watched it on my tv and loved it and appreciated it more. it is a gripping story. i wouldn’t call it the greatest movie ever, that would be 2001 i think and my favorites are wizard of oz, searchers blue velvet, singing in the rain, lord of the rings etc. but it is a masterpiece and most certainly not overrated. people who grow to care about the aesthetics of cinema will appreciate it. when someone sees say intolerance some of the cinematography might not be up to todays or even say ozu’s standards with the mise en scene and may seem boring but is a visual masterpiece in its own right. azman, id say that was a privilege to watch kane before you cared about cinema. i saw movies like star wars lord of the rings spartacus, ferris bueller and indiana jones before i cared about cinema but i didnt really watch more ‘art films.’
[…] Citizen Kane– Welles […]
Ok, i can’t legitimately believe it, i may never see 2001 in the theater, but tomorrow i’ll see Citizen Kane, i’m so excited.
@Aldo- that’s awesome- very exciting indeed!
Trying to do an Orson Welles study, my first official attempt at a director study.
Starting with Citizen Kane and going to do chronologically
– I love the montage of newspapers as a narrative vehicle similar to the Godfather, the breakfast montage to depict the decline of his marriage is absolutely brilliant as well
– The scene after his election loss where Kane fires Jedediah Leland is one of my favorites in the film, love the low angle shots
– Joseph Cotten is underappreciated in general
– The way Welles portrays Kane at different ages is remarkable, there’s such an energy/swagger/confidence to his character at a young age that evaporates over time and by the end he’s a pathetic/bitter/lonely old man
–
@James Trapp- this is fantastic– and great call on the breakfast montage!
Many films and filmmakers are acclaimed for their use of deep focus cinematography. However, I’d like to flip the focus (pun semi-intended) to directors who’ve opened up the aperture to blur a portion of the image and provide us with beautiful shallow focus.
One type of answer to this question would be movies with split diopter shots, which are essentially a blending of shallow and deep focus, but I will not be mentioning them here.
Here are some example shots. I will admit that some of these films may use the technique well in this particular shot but not at all throughout the rest (The Grand Budapest Hotel), while others use it as a common device (Moonlight, Red Desert).
Red Desert – https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/FF353HxoXn4U-U18M-Q-5ScrymESS6EfweEc13ND2pif_Mw94FHg6ZufEsqn9UC1jAq7OY6QLjkKF9hB6uqA_ca9WG3KeV0t_FZlJTPX2Hqk7vT0OaIpT_Rr7zHcK9YnNimmqXnOpbNPg3vTVtsTHHVYfMVUz4m8Gablf3y4
Mank – https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3a5fcb4/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5120×2328+0+0/resize/840×382!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff0%2F4d%2Fd3c5521d4d93a33e994b40edb4c8%2Fmank-reel1-onlinegrade-nograin-cropped-v31.0013770.jpg
Moonlight – https://chloeharris13blog.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/bc82d-1rp32e2fleuvd55sn-9d8dg.png
In the Mood for Love – https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/11/27/arts/26gateway-mood1/26gateway-mood1-superJumbo-v2.jpg
Taxi Driver – https://traversingtradition.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/taxi-driver-108.jpg
Once Upon a Time in the West – https://dogtrainingobedienceschool.com/pic/733264_full-frank-quotes-in-once-upon-a-time-in-the-west-sergio-leone-the-surrealist-western-chasing-light.png
The Grand Budapest Hotel – https://64.media.tumblr.com/4180e6aedc68a3d0c9f3825fbf9bef8f/a59b520cd756701b-19/s1280x1920/f302c7f8a1b9e205376b68743f538232f2ed64db.png
The Thin Red Line – https://www.filmcomment.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/06/sQ3NE2u-thinred-feature.jpg
Honorable mention: The Assassination of Jesse James – https://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/styles/structured_16x9/public/jesse_james.jpg?itok=P-aaUDlF
The blur here is more accurately caused by vignetting and chromatic aberration than shallow depth of field (Roger calls the technique he used the “Deakinizer” for fun), but it’s done well in each of the voiceover interludes.
What are some others?
I forgot an important one.
Se7en – https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgiviBqX0AAF0ZH.jpg
There is also a nice shallow focus shot from Ida: https://ontheedgefilms2012.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/ida-solo.jpg
I feel like I rarely chime in on these lists you make, but usually it’s because they’re so comprehensive I have nothing else to add. Love your work!
Thank you!
I must acknowledge that I am barely fifteen and know far less than I might pretend to know.
Well you’re much further ahead than I was when I was 15 haha. I’m 25 and only started taking film more seriously when I was about 19-21. I think the only pre-1980 films I had seen as a teenager were the Wizard of Oz, the Sound of Music, Snow White, and maybe a handful of other musicals.
The ability to fulfill my interest in cinema has largely emerged due to the occurrence of the coronavirus quarantine and the subsequent free time at home, and the gift to actually be able to learn about the artform is primarily thanks to Drake and The Cinema Archives. I’d also seen only a few older movies before I become a cinephile, though some people in my family, especially my mom and grandmothers, love movies (the term cinephie doesn’t quite fit for them). Although visual cinema and cinematography had been gaining some intrigue for me in 2019 concurrently with a growing interest in photography and acting, it wasn’t until just before spring 2020 that I decided to bring upon myself the task of watching and admiring artistic (and often older) cinema. I think I am lucky to usually not be bored by such art; it might have set me back slightly if I did not absolutely love 2001: A Space Odyssey, which essentially began my journey. The Cinema Archives has boosted my knowledge and interest considerably.
A headline in my city’s newspaper brought the quite unfortunate and, in a twisted way, somewhat amusing recent development that Citizen Kane’s Rotten Tomatoes critic score has sunk from a legendary 100% to a shameful, measly 99%. Hopefully the damage and reverberations of this atom bomb will not be too devastating to the persistent cinephile community. Let’s pray that we can rise from the ashes with some of the trademark resilience and thoughtfulness for which we are known.
@Graham- haha I saw this story as well. Hilarious
Don’t worry too much, Paddington 2 has taken its rightful place as the highest rated movie of all time.
Instructions:
1. Find a young man, cocky as hell, who has never worked in the film industry
2. Give him unmitigated control to do whatever he wants in the production of a movie, with no one to keep him in check
3. Find a depressed, jaded alcoholic
4. Have him write a script that negatively portrays a powerful man connected to the industry and will likely cause major controversy and disapproval
5. Make sure he writes the screenplay in a strange narrative order with an unusual structure
6. Let the person from step 1 do whatever he wants to the aforementioned script
7. Hire actors who have mostly never worked in movies
8. Select a composer who has never written a film score and prefers an eerie, discordant, and unpopular musical style
9. Ignore the sleek, attractive effect of shallow focus used by everyone at the time and instead diminish the aperture size so much that everything is in focus
10. Use camera angles that have almost never been used before
11. Create the most critically acclaimed film of all time.
Do you think Citizen Kane belongs in the conversation for best editing in a film?
It’s inside my top 25 edited films of all time, so it’s not terribly far off at least, even I put a fair few others ahead of it.
@Harry – Taste of Cinema does – they put together a fantastic top 10 http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/the-10-best-edited-movies-of-all-time/ . I think Dunkirk and JFK need to be in the mix as well