Yar, you be here: Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) > Customer Reviews

Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 133 Reviews)

overrated
american schlock...i can think of at least 100 better foreign movies. As for the cinematography, John ford created it in the 30's in the movie, The Informer."

Simply the best
At the age of 25, Orson Welles burst onto the Hollywood scene with this masterpiece. The fact that this film is in black and white and is considered the best ever made unfortunately scares away many from my generation; little do they realize that this was perhaps the most modern film of the period. From its revolutionary (and still awe-inspiring) visual style to its memorable performances, Citizen Kane is a genius accomplishment. Welles, like a sponge, soaked in the qualities of world cinema (primarily European cinema) and used these tools to create a film that is unlike anything before or since. The heartbreaking story of Charles Foster Kane is the embodiment of the American Dream in all its glory and folly, providing a mature and modern outlook on the fallability of man. Surprisingly entertaining (it's actually quite funny), this film says more than the first two Godfather films, and in a third of the time, no less. It is necessary viewing for any film-lover.

The Point
I think almost everybody is missing the point of the film. The movie certainly was technically well done, but what helped it the most was the story. Not to excuse his behavior, but Kane tried to control everyone while trying to make them love him because he had no control when he lost his parents as a child. The mysterious "rosebud" was the name of his sled which he repeated several times in the course of the film at times of stress. He also recalled his most happy time of life which probably occurred just prior to being sent away by his mother. He was playing in the snow just before he was traumatized by being forced to go away with a total stranger. The scene depicted in the glass ball of a snow scene he obsessively fondled and the word "rosebud" were his last thoughts at death. With a lifetime of adult memories as a powerful, wealthy man and the lost love of a beautiful woman, what did he think about at the moment of death? I think it was his lost youth and family that "rosebud" represented.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45

Next Page