1941: Citizen Kane: What Makes A Masterpiece?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Citizen Kane is one of the most important films ever made. It's shown in every film class, fawned over by professors, loved by cinephiles. But why? What makes Citizen Kane such an amazing film? How did its use of Deep Focus or floating, roving camera change cinema?
What Orson Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland created was truly revolutionary. But what's the big deal? What exactly makes the film so groundbreaking? This video explores the cinematic influences on Citizen Kane and how the film changed cinema.
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The last shot of the sled burning....always makes me a little emotional. The message is universal: "You can never go home again." Something everyone learns as they get older and experience loss.
Who really knows what it means.
The Rosebud reveal is really sad. Watching the thing burn its so depressing. Like seeing a whole life going to waste beacuse of ambition
Damn, that hits hard.
Damn I miss that sled.
@@joshb9516 :)
When I watched this movie I didn’t understand why it was often called the greatest movie of all time. I definitely enjoyed it, but thanks to this analysis, I’m starting to see why it is so highly regarded.
Just so you know, comments like this are exactly why I love making these videos. Thank you.
Stellvia Hoenheim gaining a deeper appreciation for something and changing one’s opinion =/= blindly following popular opinion
Great Destroyer No, it really isn’t. Just because it has the same end result (praising a highly praised movie) doesn’t mean it involved the same process.
If you’re saying they’re lying to get likes, then yeah maybe, but there’s no reason to just assume that. The comment seems genuine enough.
OP didn’t even say that they liked it now; they just said they see why it’s so highly regarded now.
Great Destroyer If you agree with someone’s argument and don’t have a counter-argument then why wouldn’t you change your opinion? That is the point of discussion. Not changing your view at that point is just being a disingenuous contrarian for no reason.
Note: most audience as this time were accustomed to chronological story telling. The scrambledness of it all makes for a captivating story. You feel like you're the reporter, learning about him as you jump from person to person.
To me, I feel like you never get to "really" know Kane. You get an idea of who he is through others.
thank you so much! i’ve wondered how this was received when it came out. what people thought at the time and not after the fact. looking up different variations of my question resulted in nothing. so truly, thank you!
for most film lovers, I think citizen Kane is the kind of film that you learn to love and appreciate as you grow older and your taste evolve. it wasn't until my mid-twenties that citizen Kane became a film that I consider one of my favorites
I agree - same goes for certain books, music etc.
im at 13 right now and ive watched it twice so i can appreciate more the second watch if yah know what i mean although its not my favourite movie but its still a masterpiece
@@ash-dy2dm A 13 year old would probably love Tarantino, try to watch Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction you will enjoy them. Also you could try Scarface and The Godfather, but the latter is more mature and long. Blade Runner is another masterpiece you should watch if you like Cyber Punk theme, and I will also encourage you to check Ghost in the shell from 1995 it will certainly inspire you.
@@Nonesovile96 I would agree with you on the first half of Amberson's it's just unfortunate that it was never allowed to be a fully realized vision. Touch of Evil is terrific even with Charlton Heston Brown face
I'm 26 and I found it quite boring, I mean its good, its a good movie I enjoyed it, but I don't know I found it boring. I guess I must give it a second chance
The first thing I always tell people about Citizen Kane is that its fun as hell. I think a lot of people are put off or intimidated by the whole 'greatest film of all time' moniker. Each time I watch it, I'm floored when an hour has gone by and it only felt like twenty minutes.
ive just realisee that he found the snowglobe in his wifes room. That snowglobe was one of few things that really meant something to him not someone expensive but something he cared about. Earlier in the film his wife tells him that he gives her nothing that he cares about only things that he could buy that dont effect him , not knowing he had given her that.
it is a masterpiece because it is the perfect fusion between a radio show a live play and a movie . nothing has touched it .
It is unique but that does not make it the greatest film of all time.
@@bighands69 It is the best film ever made.
@@idkanymore3382
It is a great film but it lacks a climax especially when it hinted at one for so long throughout the film.
It is very well directed, acted, great script but the overall story goes nowhere hence why it is not the greatest film of all time.
It is not as good as The Lady Vanishes, Vertigo, Ben-Hur, Godfather and many other great films.
@@idkanymore3382 no
@@dwaynekeenum1916 Yes, go back to watching iron man
While your analyses are always well-made and informative, (puts on nitpicking hat), it might be somewhat controversial to say that Hitchcock was influenced by Welles, given that Hitchcock had been directing for 15 years before Citizen Kane came out, and used techniques from Expressionist films that he had observed first-hand in Germany. But artists can influence each other, so I suppose it’s academic :)
I would even argue that the last shot in Rebecca had influenced the burning sled in Citizen Kane. But that's just me, speculating.
That last shot in Rebecca is something else. It had to have some kind of influence.
Hitchcock may have been directing long before Welles, but Hitch was in his 40's when he came to Hollywood whereas a 25 year old Welles made the greatest film of all time at his debut. Compare and contrast.
@@FirstPlace97 That's not contradicting anything Michael Cullen said.
@@karlkarlos3545 What I'm saying is that what Welles achieved was unparalleled at the time, and it's hard to deny that he was the dominant force of the 1940's cinema. having said that, Hitchcock did have an extraordinary period in the 50's
Citizen Kane is a movie where if you care about movies, you learn to, at the very least, appreciate it. It changed the way people told stories, directed, lighted, acted, did special effects, etc
Such a groundbreaking film. Orson Wells despite being so high regarded is underrated. People forget his other films are great
To be honest, though it's a great film, it's not the best Orson Welles movie. That would be either Chimes at Midnight or Touch of Evil. A lot of people, including myself when younger, are put off Welles because they regard viewing his work as a homework assignment, especially since Kane is a film that has to be seen a few times to fully enjoy.
Yes. Welles SHOULD have been allowed to have final say on the final cinema cut for Theater. If that were allowed, he likely would have had at least 5 or 6 films on par with Citizen Kane. With proper financial backing, maybe 8 or 10.(!)
And yes: sometimes he was his own worst enemy.
What? He did have final cut. What are you talking about?
Always wondered "Who heard Kane whisper 'Rosebud'"? The nurse? She was outside of his closed bedroom and probably only heard the snow globe crash.
The Third Man is also a highly critically acclaimed film of Welles, if I remember correctly.
"though a box office failure upon its release" needs more than one asterisk after a statement like that. The theaters that weren't too afraid to show it, sold to capacity.
PEOPLE NEED TO STOP PUTTING THE EYE SCENE FROM CHIEN ANDALOU EVERYWHERE WITHOUT WARNING omg i cant
yeah a dick move to just casually show it like its nothing.
It's just a movie... chill. There's far worse out there.
I hate safe spaces... but I agree with you. It is a dick move.
@@JacobMcAllister what's worse than cutting an eye in half? Raping a kid? I don't want to see that. Also I don't want to see tiny clips diminishing the effect of these movies. Don't show the pay off scene to people that don't see the movie. Don't show the final image of Planet of the Apes at all. Some scenes are meant to suprise
@@MicahMicahel well you had to take it from 10 to 100 didn't you lol why was rape the first thing on your mind weirdo? Anyway, 99% of the world has no idea where that eye scene comes from and 98% don't care to ever find out. And it's not exactly the shock and awe moment it was in 1929. The world has moved far beyond that level of grotesque. And planet of the apes is over 50 years old at this point and that ending is cemented in pop culture. Film isn't a bubble.
While not a favorite film, I do love how much thought and process you put in this video showing why Citizen Kane deserves it's reputation.
Guessing Magnificent Ambersons or Casablanca as the next one.
Fun fact: There was actually a Citizen Kane reference in a Phineas and Ferb episode. (The one with the lake nose monster). In the scene where the lifeguard has a cramp while he’s in the water, he says “nose bud” and drops the snow globe.
I saw that episode and I like it and laugh that reference. 😂
I'm guessing 1942 is Casablanca.
As a photographer, I study this movie often. The visual storytelling through camera technique are so incredible!
Kane is a masterpiece for one reason: Orson Welles. He was the most mysterious, enigmatic and brilliant actor/director/writer ever to grace stage, radio or screen...and made the greatest film of all time at 25 years of age.
I would argue against the "greatest movie of all time" bit by using the arguments of Late Spring/Tokyo Story (Ozu) and Rashomon/Seven Samurai (Kurosawa) or even "The Killing/Paths of Glory" (Stanley Kubrick) But then, Citizen Kane came TEN YEARS at least before all of these. So I give it its merits. Not greatest thing I ever seen, but still GREAT.
@@FeelingShred "The Killing" as the greatest movie of all time?? This came 15 years after Kane, and there had been countless similar movies up until it came out in '56. I'd venture to say the things you liked best about it, like the long track shots and information dump dialogue were already perfected in Kane. The acting and dialogue in The Killing is among the worst of all the movies of the time which had also already been perfected in Kane. In The Killing there is no equal an actor or character that Wells brought to the screen in Kane; no one as believable, and certainly no one as in depth regarding the inner workings and the pitfalls of finding success in the modern age- something we've all been taught is so important in western society.
Personally, and I'm just going to be blunt here. Kubrick is/was/and always has been an Orson Wells imposter, who was actually quite clever at stealing much of his work and convincing his fanboys that he was actually being original most of the time, and therefor his fanboys always seem to like his work over others in comparison.
Kubrick was a great artist and somewhat decent innovator at times, but he was also a charlatan and a fraud, who ultimately failed to admit where he knew he was drawing much of his material from and just how cheap so many of tricks really were. He was actually one of the reasons Wells didn't like to watch other's movies. He'd be either too disgusted by it or too attempted to steal something.
@@Rick-the-Swift
Didn't Welles borrow ideas from earlier French and German film makers?
@@charliewest1221 yes indeed, of course Welles "borrowed" many ideas from many people, and if you listen to him long enough, he usually admitted to all of his shenanigans. That's where I grew to respect Welles. He didn't sugarcoat the fact that Hollywood and New York media was full of vampires and prostitutes who sucked and leached everything they could in order to produce their films. He well understood that he stood tall among them. But even though Welles was borrowing ideas, his ambition and luck is what set him apart from the rest who proceeded him. His production of "Kane" cemented him as the first "epic" movie maker. The story was epic, the dialogue spoke volumes, and the continuity from beginning to end was completely original.
@@Rick-the-Swift
Thank you for your response.
Loved Citizen Kane and it was a great entry-point for me into more Orson Welles, a true master. Would love to see Casablanca covered in the next video too like others have said but each of your video essays are fantastic, it's always exciting to see what you put out next.
So basically this is the first movie that feels like modern cinema - back in 1941.
It's funny how it actually doesn't make sence, I mean no one could hear him whisper "rosebud".
At the end of the film, his butler suggests he was in the room at the moment of Kane’s death
Welles himself said that "rosebud" is the thing he liked least about Kane.
@@beechnut8779 So did I
On nearly every TH-cam video about this film, there is always someone who points this out ... the "big" mystery of how people knew his last word on his deathbed. Obviously someone heard it, because characters in the story know he said _rosebud_ before he died.
@@eduardo_corrochio The nurse puts the sheet over his face, so you take it she was in the room when he died
This was my second time watching the film "Citizen Kane." I enjoyed it more this time. While watching or reading novels, you may begin to identify with the characters. As the film progressed to the ending and watching an overview of all the antiques collected, I guessed the correct meaning of "Rosebud" based on the snowy caption. People, in general, will judge politicians and the wealthy, but once they take a little closer look, the same POV may be seen in their own mirrors. Great overview.
The masterpiece was almost banned and not released by Kane himself!
I thought the story was ok but the bird jumpscare is kinda goated and some of the cinematography is really creative.
A truly masterful work in this essay, I am so thankful this type of content is so accesible and easy to consume.
OK but who heard him say *"ROSEBUD"*
The butler
Yes, the butler. Did you not watch the movie?
I think it was brilliant to avoid establishing the butler as present in the opening and save that for the butler to reveal he was there and it was the second time he heard Kane say it. It lays a last hope for Thompson that someone can explain what it meant. But nobody could explain what meant.
I first saw Citizen Kane when I was 19 years old, and it made a huge impression on me. 50 years later, it is still my favorite film.
*_Hypest New Years Eve Ever_*
thanks charlie!!!!
everyone always bangs on about innovative the deep focus in Citizen Kane was, but Renoir was way ahead of Welles with it (La Règle du jeu)
La Règle du Jeu simply did not have the same level of impact that Citizen Kane had.
Charles Kane is no great man but someone lucky enough to be born to wealth. The story even emphasizes and turns it into a satire by setting up his coming into money as an investment bank adopting him. He grows up to be a troubled, self-righteous rich boy who thinks, as two of the POVs from people in his life puts it, that he can get anything he wants with money. He's not corrupted by "greatness" but rather starts out as a croney publisher, pushing his own agenda forward and proclaiming grand ideals that have no standing nor importance to Kane himself. In a way it's about how immense wealth isolates him from everybody else by removing any real stakes that almost all average people have to take and deprives him of empathy. He talks about being a philanthropist but throughout the movie we never see him do one charitable act. He expresses sympathies for the workers but never once he promises anything to them or does anything to help their conditions.
As it's achievement Citizen Kane is the perfect representation of detached American billionaires. Just compare Kane to Bezos or Musk and you shall see the similarities.
I always felt the main point of the story is that in his last moments his thoughts were about a realization that the last time he was ever truly happy was that snowy morning when he was a kid on his rosebud died before he was sent away from his family, in other words even with all his money he was never truly happy and that money can’t buy happiness
Kind of an over used narrative these days but at the time really meant something, the only other thing like that at the time was maybe The Great Gatsby, (I imagine that was a major influence on Orson for this movie) but yea it had a lot of meaning obviously still does, but this was the first time it was put into film in the greatest way possible
It has more than earned the title of best movie ever made. Every single scene was so far ahead of its time. Spielberg made a career out of copying scenes from this movie. One of the things it does so well is the setup for the ending - the story doesn't really feel like it hinges on "Rosebud" because it seems like such a random thing. You can't imagine it being of any importance, so you're not constantly looking for it - which can be distracting. Instead, you're enjoying the trip down memory lane from the acquaintances of Kane, and as you go deeper, you find out that he was an angry guy that was somehow incomplete, despite seemingly having the world on a platter. But again, you never think that Rosebud could possibly explain him. Then, you find out that a single word can in fact explain a character. You learn everything you ever needed to know about him and it's absolutely incredible and lines up perfectly with who he was. The greatest movie ever made.
People that say it's not as good never really watched a movie from that era. You have to watch with the context of the times it came, if you watch like any other movie you won't comprehend how influential it really is. The techniques used became so common that it's difficult to see why it's so influential.
It is one of those films that you do not even need to grasp the period. I do not think it is the greatest film of all time in the English speaking world.
People always talk about the technical innovations of Citizen Kane, but that's not the real reason that it is the greatest film ever made. The story, the writing, the characters, acting and philosophical depth are all astounding. It is the deepest film ever made about what goes on inside of a human mind. The only film comparable is 2001, which is even more sublime, visually stunning but concerned more with evolution than the past.
FP The Godfather and 2001 are both overwhelmingly better than Citizen Kane. don’t get me wrong Kane does seem pretty influential but I didn’t really like it that much when I first watched it when I was 17.
Leo thats subjectif, i personally think Kane is the best
I agree completely, the story transcends time and place, it has a universal meaning that left a huge impression on me when I first watched it. As much as these titles such as "greatest film" are void of meaning, if there is one movie that is worthy of it it's Citizen Kane, it's undoubtedly a masterpiece in every way.
Tokyo Story is better imo
@@ihatefanserviceanime364 this nigga just said Tokyo Story 😂
you mention david fincher in this vid and he’s just about the release a movie about citizen kane :0
Now he's nominated for Best Picture with Mank
ah... I see you like watching my films
@@Jerknoir-a-saurus If you think that then why did you take exception to me saying I thought Citizen Kane is boring?
💥🇲🇽💥🇲🇽💥🇲🇽💥🇲🇽Ayyyyy. Ciudadano K A N E,... EL. MEJOR. F I L M E, de todos los. Tiempos,....Gran película con ORSON WELLES,..... S A L U D O S. Desde C A N A T L A N! Durango,....
You really do need to view both bad and good stuff to understand why anything is either both good and bad. Which is way a few months after I first watched Citizen Kane I understood it better... because I watched Battlefield Earth... something where the only reason to watch it is bragging rights that you actually endured it. But at least I was able to get a deeper understanding of why something is good, that being it has none of the thigs Battlefield Earth has.
Citizen Kane is a Movie about the Art of Making Movie itself.
I saw the title "UN CHIEN ANDALOU":
Oh, nice
Then I saw the shot of the moon and I knew what's coming:
Oh no!
1941. can you fucking believe that ?
technically
it's way ahead of its time, I mean look at the acting, at one moment I
swore that was Marlon Brando's don Corleone entering the practicing room
. How do you manage to direct such a masterpiece while being the
protagonist in action ? it's just impossible, mostly if it's one of the
best films and one of the best roles ever achieved in Hollywood . The
camera movements were pleasantly enjoyable, and again out of this world,
you can't even find scenes like those anymore, I'm talking about the
transitions of the camera in and out of the house of young Kane through
the window and the other frames within frames sequences and the
symbolism that left me speechless knowing that this was shot in 1941
.Charlie Kane reminded me somehow of Jordan Belfort's character in The
Wolf of Wall Street, and there is also a resemblance between the two
actors . The script was interesting and so thick, I enjoyed the
narrative flashbacks telling the story of Mr Charlie and I guess it
influenced a lot of films later like Amadeus, Titanic, Saving Private
Ryan and The Usual suspects ,so because of all that being said this film
earns a 5 stars from me .
A Masterpiece
Comment?
Never realized how sad the scene is when he's cold to the banker... and kind of creepy. why did the banker want the little boy?
The greatest movie of all time is always the next one y’all. True filmmakers know this. 😈
You mean "THE GODFATHER" ?
I have always had a problem with the opening, when he whispers rosebud and drops the snow globe, ther was no one in the room, only after the globe crashed a nurse came in so no one could have haerd him say that.
What a HUGE disappointment. Its not a movie, its a gag-reel from the forties-fifties. A Superman Cartoon from the same era posing as a news reel every 30 seconds. An hour long cheap commercial with every male doing a James Cagney impression, having all the answers, dotting every cliche you can imagine and the audience doesn't care about anyone specially the so called lead character. But the worse short coming of all with this so called 'movie' is that its unbearably "boring". I think society as a whole and the movie industry got caught up in "sheep mode", someone said it was a master piece so they all said it was a master piece and kept repeating the same lie until today, because saying otherwise would make the honest reviewer seem incompetent or stupid. Well, it is a piece of B movie garbage. Go ahead, start watching and see how much you can bear. By the time his ugly, ignorant second wife start yelling at him, you will want to slash your wrists. And wonder what's the point of all this? its going nowhere, looks like the director and write are drunk. In short, what a waste of time. Skip it, if you don't you will wish you had.
its garbage.
It is an amazing film but it lacks a true climax that it builds on throughout the film to then left it slip away.
I have a question: I have posted more than 5,000 things on TH-cam, but if I use any copyrighted material I get a warning letter. You use clips. Others post an entire symphony. When I did the obit for singer ANDY WILLIAMS, I had to use his most-famous song, "Moon River." The video was flagged and the audio muted. What am I doing wrong? Dennis
5:38 Borrowed by filmmakers like David Fincher! Boy, in 2018 guy who made this video didn't even know how much he was right...
Great video man! Just got done watching the movie and wanted to watch a good video essay on it and this was perfect! 😉
good acting, no propaganda and no silly fake fighting scenes
Thank you for this excellent explanation. I saw Citizen Kane and noticed several aspects of the filming that surprised me. I’ve rarely ever seen a black and white movie, so I was taken aback when I saw such camera angles and how smoothly Charlie Kane aged. Far more than I expected from such an old movie. Along with the engaging storyline, I could certainly see why this movie has been regarded a historically great movie.
But it’s thanks to your explanation that I see why it’s widely considered as the greatest movie ever made.
No
I much prefer The Magnificent Ambersons.
Robert Wise edited the film; is editing not significant?
I don't know how masterpiecy this movie is supposed to be, but it blew my mind.
Its seems like early movies were just plays on a stage shot at a very safe angle, as people learned about framing they found ways to make film more expressive and kane took all these modern elements we all take for granted and presented it in a large cohesive image without making it seem like a gimmick like the famous scene from wings in 1927.
He was very witty and ppl don't speak the same way as the old backbone that they had back then. This is and always be the best picture ever. I want to watch it over and over !! Love it!
thank you for the video! and your others... I teach a cinema class on the "golden age of Hollywood/independent era" as a volunteer and I use clips of your videos as discussion points all the time. love your content. It is so rare to find discussions and analyses about classics from that era that are true good quality and content. This generation is focused on the last 2 decades on youtube... so thank you so much!
Because it's second half is boring is what makes it a masterpiece
thank you for such a good video, it has really enabled me to appreciate the film!
Charlie, this is your own Citizen Kane if I may say so .. brilliant video explaining very concisely what makes Citizen Kane so great ... Nice work
I watched this film twice and I absolutely love it. It's a film that genuinly makes me happy watching it. I remember when I watched this the first time I kept forgetting the whole film was about finding out the meaning behind 'rosebud'.
Good point, I didn't even remember the Rosebud thing until I watched this video here now. I didn't think it was "the greatest movie I ever watched" by any stretch of the imagination, but I couldn't take my eyes off it, which is a testament to the great storytelling in itself. Another movie that caused me the same effect was Stanley Kubrick's "Killer's Kiss", it was a story that never actually went anywhere, you're always waiting for a twist or a punchline that never comes, but even then I couldn't stop watching it. I think there's something to be said about that. It's not about the destination, it's the journey. Maybe?
Now, when I think of movies that caused me that feeling of "this is the best thing I ever watched" it was early Ozu and Kurosawa movies, specially Rashomon/Seven Samurai and Late Spring/Tokyo Story, these movies moved me in a way I didn't even think movies were capable of.
But even then, I have to make one concession to Citizen Kane: it was made 10, 15 years before these other movies I mentioned where made. It was the pioneer.
My only gripe with this otherwise great film is how it destroyed the reputation of Marion Davies. Most people assumed that Susan Alexander was based on Davies (since Kane was mostly based on William Randolph Hearst). Davies had retired in 1937 and by 1941 was already a fading Hollywood memory since her films would not be easily available until the rise of Turner Classic Movies, many decades later. In truth, Davies had been a major film star from 1917 to 1937 and was named #1 female box office star of 1923 by the theater owners group. Only now are we seeing the full depth of her talent as more of her silent films are being restored and released.
Those that starred in silent films did not really have any success in the talkies. There are a few exceptions.
Citizen Kane is a most extraordinary film and a pitch perfect expression of Romanticism in film as one can find. The ending is so powerfully moving with such deep insight of the significance of childhood, and its traumatic interruption by "fate". This film is my second favorite of all movies. Chaplin's City Lights is my favorite. The endings of each are unequalled in their emotional confrontation with the possibility of love (and the significance of its absence), and with the unalterable force of fate. Chaplin and Wells are America's two greatest film artists!
"Citizen Kane" is indeed a masterpiece, a profound work of art, but it's also wildly entertaining. You don't hear it very often, but "Citizen Kane" is at times great fun.
Fr. I had a blast watching it. Was in awe of performances, editing and cinematography the whole time.
I wrote this in my essay
He [the reporter] concludes that his task may be as impossible as the goal of its object, the description of a man's entire life with a single word, "rosebud."
This is a key element missing in your analysis and it explains why this film bombed at the box office. Orson Welles made this as a semi-autobiography of William Randolph Hearst, who was the most powerful newspaper man alive. Hearst did everything he could to bury this film and put an end to Welles' career.
I think Bernard Herrmann’s music in Citizen Kane is one of the key reasons it’s so effective. The way the music changes when we go back to Kane’s childhood home in the snow is so evocative it sends shivers down my back every time
Is the next video Casablanca or Bambi?
I think it’s a bit boring sorry. In my memory of it there are just endless scenes of men talking in various rooms. Having said that there are a couple of extremely memorable scenes.
@@Jerknoir-a-saurus No that is also a pile of shit. I like Remember My Name starring Geraldine Chaplin; Belle de Jour is also a film I recommend. And also The Seventh Seal. I suggest you watch them.
@@Jerknoir-a-saurus I don’t like Citizen Kane and Fast & Furious isn’t in my top 50.
imdb: Incorrectly regarded as goofs In the beginning, Kane says, "Rosebud." The nurse enters the room after the word is spoken. The shooting script only mentions Kane and the nurse being in the room. However, within the movie itself Raymond the butler tells the reporter that he had heard Kane say "Rosebud" after the fight with Susan as well as just before he drops the snow globe, implying that what the viewer is shown in that scene is from Raymond's P.O.V.
It could be. Or it could be simply that we do not see him and Welles wisely to not establish him there. In the only long shot of Kane in the room before the nurse enters we can’t even see all of Kane on the bed because his head is obscured in shadow. Only someone stretching to find a flaw would leap to the conclusion that something can’t exist because we didn’t see it. The shot your referencing could be a pov, but it’s also an example of open framing which is framing that reminds us the world outside the frame has relevance.
I remember watching this with my daughter, who was only about twelve years old at the time. I asked her what she thought of it, and she said, "It's as if the camera is a person. Or maybe it's a ghost. It just floats around, it can go anywhere it wants, it even goes through things. It seems to see everything and know everything." Pretty good summation.
Citizen Ka me sucks big time.
Movies are at their very best when the music and imagery dazzle your eyes and imagination. Sometimes it's a piece of dialogue you remember, but this visual/musical harmony is what we remember most. In my opinion.
"Your right Mr. Theacher, I did lose a million dollars last year, I lost a million dollars this year, I expect to lose a million dollars next year, do you know what a rate of a million a year means? I'll have to close this place in 60 years"
- Chariles F. Kane
The greatest movie ever made
this movie is shit
@@chepecheapy308 You're the greatest shit ever made!!!
@@chepecheapy308 how did god allow you to be born ?
Such a beautiful and bold line
@@zedankhan6123 then tell me why the movie is good, when i saw it i fell asleep twice
I'm just trying to find good movies like this one. I just watched it for the first time, it was kinda hard for me to get into the movie cause of the audio. I'm not an English man so it's more difficult to watch a movie in English for me then for others. But I loved the pictures and the way of storytelling. I'm a fan of Christopher Nolan and the structure kinda reminded me like you said of movies like memento. Does someone have some recommendations for movies like this?
"knives out" if you haven't seen it already
This is not like Citizen Kane or Memento, however: If you have not seen Mulholland Drive, a 2001 movie from David Lynch, I might suggest it. But be warned; the narrative/story is strange. Don't speak to anyone about the film before watching it. It's special. People seem determined (after seeing it) to try to understand its meaning-- but for me the experience of this film was pure entertainment that needs to be felt emotionally and viscerally ... rather than explained or analyzed. It's a really good piece of cinema. Very dreamlike.
@HavreKakor
Watch it with subtitles and try to improve your english that way. Watch 100 movies like that and it will improve your english.
Great movies to watch are Rear Window, Vertigo, Searchers, The Big Country, Godfather 1&2 with part 3 being optional, Murder on the Orient Express, Ben Hur, Spartacus, 2001 Space odyssey, Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Where Eagles Dare, Lawrence Of Arabia, Casablanca, The Birds, Pulp FIction, Blade Runner, Alien (1979), Once Upon a Time in America, Amadeus, 12 Angry men.
I could go on and on.
Among the hay of TH-cam, I believe this video to be a needle. I came looking for a video to merely explain the context of "Citizen Kayne" and what I got was a perfect, 13-minute-long symbiosis of factual knowledge and heartfelt passion for the narrative medium of film. Typically, I believe my comments to be pointless - but it would be a crime to get to see this and walk away without expressing my gratitude for this content.
This movie has always been on my favorites, it never gets old to me and it is perfect when it is night of the christmas sitting at couch mouth shut and enjoying everything in it, maybe take some chocolate but still. Fantastic movie
It is one of those films that does cut through time but that still does not mean it is the greatest film of all time.
When asked if he had ever seen the movie again since it’s premiere. He said he hadn’t seen it because he saw it so many times on the cutting room floor, and he knew that if he saw it again, he would only see the things he would’ve changed or done differently
Wow, I watched this movie when I was about 9 years old. And I recall my mother asking me what I thought his last word meant, and I recall me saying it was about his childhood and how he wishes he could go back...I just randomly thought of this movie now, 34 years later, and I was curious to watch it again to see how off I might have been as a child and come to hear, I was spot on. Go little me. I will still look to buy this and watch it again as I'm certain I've forgot almost everything about it.
have some praise
At about the same age, Kane was showing on TV. My mother let me stay up late to see it. She'd seen it in 1941 and said "You should watch this. It's important." From the first frame, the mystery and atmosphere of it grabbed me. Mother was correct. It's the most important film ever made.
Its not that simple though. Its about the event that made him who he was. This was the trauma that made him believe that a loss off control means a loss of love. It does refer to his childhood but it is about the events that made him the broken man he was. A 9 year old could not comprehend the subtext
So basically Citizen Kane to cinema is Bruce Lee to martial arts? That's awesome, and deserving of much clout.
I didn’t quite understand the movie at first, but I’m very glad I watched this vid. Great work
i feel like all of tactics used the other movies before had the same effect. the real reason citizen kane is important is because they used all of them together, to CONSISTENTLY add depth to scenes.
Marvelous analysis. Thank you for your thoughtful comments and observations. I would encourage Cane lovers to watch MANK on Netflix...
So many lovely Easter eggs that are hidden in this amazing film that don’t stand out on first viewing. One of my favorites is how meeting Susan circumvents a chance that Kane encounters, or rediscovers Rosebud. He tells her he was on his way to look through some belongings that were shipped from his mother’s place, and he going there on a “sentimental journey”. But meeting her prevents him from going. We don’t really know if he ever followed through. But in away she temporarily was Rosebud because that night we see him for the last time full of play and wonder. Struck that she could like him while not knowing who he was. The reveal at the end makes their meeting so heartbreaking in retrospect. He wasn’t longing explicitly looking for rosebud at the time as far as we can tell. But he found what it really meant as fleeting as it was. Later when Geddes exposed his “affair” it’s hinted that there time together wasn’t even a physical affair, but an emotional one. And once that embarrassment is revealed she becomes just another possession and crusade (crusader being the name of the new sled Thatcher gifts him) as he attempts to take the quotes of her being a “singer”.
The image of Xanadu in Citizen Kane pisses me off. Julia Morgan, recognized as the first great female American architect, an architect of the first rank, designed the beautiful San Simeon estate. The cheesy, spook-house gothic horror of Xanadu is an insult to Julia Morgan. It's Orson Welles' lazy, juvenile, contemptible cheap-shot. How dare he? Tells you a lot about the man. His snotty, shallow dishonesty.
Citizen Kane is an empty shell. The characters in Citizen Kane are two-dimensional. Does anybody watch the movie because they care about any of the characters? Susan Alexander Kane is a broken woman. Does anybody care? All the card-board-cutout characters serve only as objects of contempt. His cardboard cutout of Kane, however, does warn us that a fascist cult of personality could happen in the US. I'll grant Welles that.
But The Rules of the Game also employed deep focus...
Dude. Top notch content. The Citizen Kane of Citizen Kane analysis videos
One can clearly see where Gatsby's extravaganza comes from. What a great movie this was. So good that now I'm talking like them.
I still don’t understand. Just because a move paved the way for future cinematography, doesn’t mean it is the greatest of all time. It’s so much worse than literally so many movies
You got a point. It's great, but surely not the best.
To me at least
I would argue that the ending actually is the best of all time, at least of all movies I have watched, and of course its subjective. But I agree with your point and I didn't like the majority of the movie, only the beginning and end was good if Im not comparing to something else. Again that is very subjective, but to me the middle part of the movie was all over boring. Either way we should appreciate if for inventing something new
Worse than what movie? Care to give any examples?
I think "How Green Was My Valley" won Best Picture that year because the audiences and critics were taken by its nostalgia and its family story. "Citizen Kane", despite its brilliant cinematic sorcery, is essentially a story about a character whom we don't care much about, and it's also bleak. HGWMV was sentimental and uplifting and lovely.
That being said, we can't deny how good "Citizen Kane" was in its movie making achievements for its time. The comment above saying how bad it is diminishes it and makes it sound like some forgettable mediocrity.
the loss of innocence, Rosebud burns. His parents sold away Kaines childhood and innocence to be turned over to the buyer of his childhood home. What happenned to his parents? Did they abandon their child?
Kaine was molded into the material narcicistic lufe, without living unconditionally. His soul was in effect sold out by his parents.
Greed and powerlust crowded out Kaines innocence. He forgot how to love others and surrounded himself with sychophants.
He forgot to love himself, hold himself accoubtable, live others...in the end, the narcicist dies alone...like King Lear.🎉
Maybe he didn't rewatch it because in many ways it destroyed him. It's was based on a media mogul of the time and he destroyed Wells and the movie for years.
The least you could of said is SPOILER ALERT as you spoiled litterly the film's ending.
Citizen Kane is like the opposite of The Room. A film written, produced, directed by and starring the same man, yet Kane is a great movie… The Room is not.
This is the worst movie I have ever seen, the first 10 minutes are boring, it talks about the life of a normal guy that I don't care the hell about through boring newspaper. The scene before that looks horrible, the "castle" that Kane lives in looks like a goddamn haunted house in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of trees with no leaves, I thought this guy was popular. Anyways, there are some weird shots of his house that looks like it could get cobwebs easily and after all of that shit we see cringe as he says rosebud and dies out of nowhere. So after 10 minutes we move on to a scene with some guys that I don't care about and they know about that Kane's last word that he ever said was rosebud, HOW TF DO THEY KNOW. Kane was all alone in the scene where he died and there's a lot of theories that his maid heard it before she walked in, but it's a big goddamn castle so his room is really wide and he said it softly before he died so either she has telekenesis or the goddamn haunted house is so huge that she could hear through echoes, idk. Anyways im getting off topic here, so these guys have to look for information about Kane's life before the goddamn first 10 minutes. So one of them (who I don't care about) talks to this lady to open a fucking bank vault to find out Kane's life. Ok first of all, why tf a bank vault and why do they want to find out his past life, it probably has nothing to do with how he died and this scene doesn't feel climactic, they could have read a newspaper or something to learn everything about his life. Every second of that wastes the time of the movie, what am I saying, every goddamn second of the movie is a waste of time. So we get to a flashback of 3 people mumbling while young Charles Kane is playing outside in the snow, having fun, having the time of his life. Two of the people mumbling inside the wooden house are his parents and one of them wants to take him to become a young businessman with him. But why? Leave Charles alone he's just a kid come on man him and his parents live out in the snowy lands in a wooden house and they are probably poor. You know what, if that businessman never interrupted the Kane's and goddamn left them alone and not take their child, then this movie would have never happened :D Anyways, so Kane and that businessman go to America, unfortunately :( and they talk boring shit. The next scene is Charlie who is 30 years old now talking business to someone and that scene is suppost to be like an iconic scene but I don't really see why (of course). The next scene they cut back to the present and one of the guys I don't care is talking to a random lady in a bar trying to find out information about Kane, yet again they could have read a newspaper or shit, good job writers! So they have a boring conversation. I don't want to make this too long explaining every little "wtf happened" details and "this makes no sense" details because there is a million more of them. In all honesty, I did really try to like this movie, like I was going in positive and ready to see how this movie was gonna turn out for me because all of what I heard about it and how good it was and I got disappointed by it, anyways I will probably like this movie in the future but for now this is my least favorite movie of all time. I don't mean to hate on other people who like this movie, I just wanna release my thoughts because I kept it in there for too goddamn long just sitting there, if you made it this far, thank you for understanding and E. Ha! Citizen Kane! He probably tripped over a banana every year of his life because that's what I think would happen to a person like him with a name like that.
I think ultimately it's a really good movie that stand the test of time. But because of all the praise heaped on it as literally the greatest movie of all time, many thunk ot second only to The Godfather, it's become highly overrate. This kind of ruins it for anybody seeing it because it sets new viewers up for disappointment when it doesn't knock their socks off. But because you "have to appreciate it's legacy and how revolutionary it was" it's become a sacred cow that you can't slaughter, much less criticize at all. If you love film/cinema it is a absolute must watch, but if you don't love it that's totally fine.
A grade movie
I’m not a religious person, but I went to Christian elementary school…and one line that stuck out to me from a play about Daniel and the lion’s den we did as kids always stuck out to me:
“What good is it owning the whole world if you lose your soul?”
Excellent overview. But, please consider some pregnant pauses in your dialogue. 😅
👍👍👍👍👍
Great video on a great film. I have included it in my playlist on the beauty of black and white cinema: th-cam.com/play/PLWaNkjXFJ0A2Hgq9NpUq7PgcPPz6oiQKj.html
This is what happens when studios let artists be artists