Review of Citizen Kane (1941) by Brendan C — 19 Dec 2012

This is one of the greatest movies ever made that seems really clichéd today, but when it came out over seventy years ago was completely original, and went on to inspire so many movies. The film is a mystery/drama film that revolves around the life and death of Charles Foster Kane. Charles Foster Kane's last and final words before he died were "Rosebud," then he dropped a snow globe once he died. The mystery is what does "rosebud" mean? It goes back into his entire life, and shows all of the biggest things that happened in his life. He owned a newspaper business, and the reporters for it are the ones trying to figure out the meaning of his last words.

Orson Welles was the genius mastermind behind this all time great classic. He co-wrote the screenplay with Herman J. Mankiewicz, he directed it, and even acted as Kane himself. All of the themes in this film that are clichés now he invented, and you appreciate him even more now knowing how inspiration his work was. In order to truly appreciate old films like this when you are seventeen years old like me, you need to know a little bit more about it before you start watching. You need to know how it inspired all of your favorite modern day films. All these old directors of all of these old films are the true geniuses. Even though old films like this may not seem as good nowadays because we have way more technology now, are still great if you still have a strong appreciation for films, and if you know the effect they had on the world at the time. The film is an acquired taste for somebody my age. But like all other acquired tastes its fantastic once you acquire it.

Some of these clichés are going back into the protagonist's life to show how he/her got to that point in their life. Another one is the protagonist's rise to fame, and when he/she goes down hill, because he/she isolates themselves from their family, and is only focused on work. Kane becomes more distant from his wife, the deeper he gets into the newspaper business, and politics. You will figure out the meaning of "rosebud" in the final scene of the film, but I won't spoil it for you.

One thing with old movies is that the actresses are all terrible. They are too dramatic, and they tend to do all of these big heavy sighs that are annoying today. Also they tend to all talk the same way. They have these really fake accents that make them sound like little girls. The men sound the same too, but they sound good, and more powerful. The women too me back in old movies are always annoying. That's the only thing I don't like about old films.

But overall this is one of the all time great masterpieces of filmmaking that I hope that more people my age will come to appreciate for what it is. Because it is a huge deal for movies.