Citizen Kane (1941)

#1 on Original, #1 on Anniversary

This is how IMDB describes the plot of Citizen Kane: “Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance.”  I'm not sure how else you could describe this film. That description tells you the whole story, and nothing at all, all at once.
Citizen Kane is number one on the Original list and the Anniversary list.  Some people understand why. Some don't. Citizen Kane does not appear on any of the other lists that make up The List. Because, to me, it defies categorization. There is mystery, comedy (or humorous moments), drama, romance (or lack there of);  its dark and light.  To sum it up: this film represents a human life.  

Never mind the fact that it is technically stunning and had so many film techniques that had never been used before.  Note the angles that Orson Welles used.  Characters that were supposed to be high, and mighty were shot from below.  Characters that were weak, or didn’t mean anything were shot from above, being looked down upon.  Welles loved his angles.  {When I write about the Third Man, you’ll hear more about this.}
Citizen Kane is Charles Foster Kane (Welles), who was taken from his home as a young boy in order to give him a better life.    We start the film with Kane’s death, saying one word, which is a mystery though out the whole film, "Rosebud".  We then are told the Cliffnotes version of Kane’s life through a newsreel.  Each section of the newsreel has the quality of a newsreel from the time it was suppose to represent.  Personally, I think this adds to the experience of the film, and was just an extra special touch of the film makers. 

 Kane was able to run his newspaper empire, and become a larger than life public figure. He flirted with the world of politics. Kane was a man who flaunted his money. He was a man who took on the world. Kane was a man who had ambition. He was a man who made mistakes. He was a genius, and he was foolish. He was everyman and he wasn't any man. He tried to have it all, and he still couldn't get what he wanted. 

Possibly the most famous image from this film

But was he ever happy? He had all these material things. He had everything he could have ever possibly buy.  But could he find and buy and OWN happiness?? 

The great thing about Citizen Kane is that its part mystery, part biography, part adventure. Really, it is what happens when you look in-depth into anyone's life.  You can't ask people who are gone what happened in their life. You can't always find out who or what everyone's Rosebud is or was. As someone who is up to my elbows in genealogy and questions I will never get answers to, I understand the reporters desire to find out about Rosebud.  That unanswerable question that could be nothing, or could be the key that opens a thousand doors.

This film  also makes me think about the importance we place on last words.  But that is an entry for another day.

Favorite Quotes (I couldn’t pick only one this time):

Rawlson : It isn't enough to tell us what a man did. You've got to tell us who he was.
~~
Mr. Bearnstein: Rosebud . . . maybe that was something he lost.