Take-Home Final Exam

  1. Citizen Kane is one of the most influential films ever made. Discuss this statement.

 After gaining Hollywood’s interest through his radio adaptation of, “The War of the Worlds” Welles received a rare opportunity. He signed a contract to, for the first time, write, direct, produce, edit, and star in a film for the RKO Studios. This kind of contract was remarkable because during the time major studios controlled every aspect of their product. However, Welles was given an unprecedented amount of artistic control over the project from start to finish. RKO allowed him the freedom to develop his own story and to cast his own actors and crew members, and was given the final cut. In addition, his budget was $500,000 which was a significant amount for an unproven filmmaker. At only twenty-five years of age, Welles was considered to be a theatrical genius. By contrast, there were plenty of people in Hollywood who hoped he would fail. Welles made no secret of his disdain for so-called "movie people." Also, many resented the fact that as young and inexperienced he had been given so much creative license. Despite their lack of support, Citizen Kane was released in 1941 only to face further controversy. When William Randolph Hearst, a leading newspaper publisher realized that the film was a brutal attack on himself he set out to use all his influence to discredit Welles and to stop the film. Although Hearst was largely successful he was unable to prevent the recognition of one of cinema’s great masterpieces.

Orson Welles in many ways revolutionized the medium of cinema. The film broke new ground in areas such as deep focus, complex sound, and narrative structure. The story has a fantastic script, and an overwhelming performance by Welles as Kane. The film’s framed use of “deep focus” cinematography allowed for both small objects and a whole background scene to be seen simultaneously. Welles’s use of flashback within the story added to its masterful directional style. Throughout the film, both the film’s reporters and the audience attempt and yearn to uncover the real Kane, but Kane remains an enigma. It was a film by Orson Welles. It was a product of its director, not its studio. Orson Welles can be considered an auteur because his film reflects his personal creative vision. His creative voice was distinct enough to shine without any studio interference. It is an artistically important movie highlighting what can be produced when you are given artistic freedom.

 Citizen Kane is the most influential film ever made because it defied the odds. Orson Welles was given an opportunity he could not refuse. It was the first film he would co-write, produce and act in. He had free reign. He faced criticism and personal attacks. He tried new ways of filming. However, I think that Citizen Kane remains so influential is because of its timelessness. The narrative arc, featuring an idealistic young protagonist corrupted by money and power is relevant to modern audiences.

2. What had Orson Welles done in his 23 years to warrant the Hollywood film industry offering complete creative control to a first time filmmaker?

Before launching a successful film career in 1941, Orson Welles worked extensively in theater and was a popular radio entertainer. He founded The Mercury Theater and directed a number of high-profile theatrical productions, including an adaptation of Macbeth and The Cradle Will Rock. He became notable for his Broadway adaptation of Julius Caesar, Caesar in 1937. Welles’s Mercury Theater on the Air was a radio series that produced live radio dramas. The weekly, hour-long series starred Welles in adaptations of classic literature, including “Dracula,” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” However, the most infamous broadcast in the history of radio was H.G. Well’s story, “The War of the Worlds.” “The War of the Worlds” is a science fiction novel that details a conflict between mankind and an alien race as Martians invade Earth. The broadcast was performed during a Halloween episode series on October 30, 1938. It was presented as a series of news bulletins. Moreover, the show ran without commercial breaks in order to add to its realism. As a result, the broadcast essentially gave a startling “live” report of a Martian invasion. There was widespread panic and outrage by listeners who believed the events in the broadcast were real. Orson Welles’s performance captured the public’s imagination, but more importantly Hollywood’s interest. Welles found national and international fame.

3. Pick an extended scene or sequence from Citizen Kane and discuss the storytelling techniques by analyzing any combination of its component parts (direction, writing, performance, cinematography, production design, art directions, editing, sound, etc.)

 The story is told visually through interplay of light and dark. A lot can be understood about Kane and the progression of the plot through the use of light and dark. I understood the light to represent the innocence of childhood. The lightest part of the entire film is the first scene in which Kane is a child playing in the snow. He is happily riding down a snowy hill on his sled. After Kane is taken by Walter Parks Thatcher, the film and Kane’s life get progressively darker. The dark part of the film represents the corruption of power and money. Kane loses his friends, his wives, and he even loses himself. He loses everything that ever means anything to him.

The darkest scenes are the ones that show Kane’s “palace.” These scenes expose the depth of Kane's isolation and loneliness. The story follows a reporter’s quest to find out who Citizen Kane was. In one scene Kane tells Thatcher, “If I hadn’t been rich, I may have been a great man.” Thatcher replies, “What would you have liked to have been?” “Everything you hate,” says Kane. The irony of the story is that Kane became everything Thatcher was. Kane fell into the trap of selfishness and greed over the interests of the people. His wife Susan complained that her husband never gave her anything he ever cared about. However, I do believe that he did. The snow globe was found in her room. The real Citizen Kane was sitting on her shelf the entire time. Rose Bud was Citizen Kane’s childhood sled. It represented all Kane used to be, the light he once had in his life. The last scene when the sled is burned represents his defeat. In the end Kane is swallowed by darkness.