1.
Citizen Kane is the most
influential movie ever made. This can be
explained by the many of receptions that this film made on the public and
critics alike. Like all movies, there is
a negative and a positive side to criticism but, for most, Citizen Kane is a masterpiece because of its landmark acting,
gripping story, and rebellious style. Citizen Kane was the debut for many new
actors from live theaters. Their
new-time rolls were flawless and contributed to the overall reception of the
movie. The performances of the actors
reflected the emotions of the melodrama of scenes throughout the movie. The humor, sadness and tension was almost
life-like thanks to the actor’s skillful ability to play their characters, as
well as their ability to play on the emotions of the other characters; this
perfection influencing many other Hollywood actors’ performances to do the
same.
Parallel with the performance of
the actors was the Citizen Kane’s
gripping story. Citizen Kane begins with a mystery to solve the meaning of Charles
Kane’s final word, “rosebud.” The film’s
ability to grab the audience’s attention is an essential example of how to make
a truly pure movie. The plot of the
story revolves around the quest for meaning of this word which sheds light on
the many parts of Kane’s life. Audiences
are not only starved of the meaning of the word “rosebud,” but also are exposed
to many realistic interpretations of personal life, love, media, drama, fame,
and failure. The successful effect of
this story on audience has influenced many biographical films including David
Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
Lastly, and most importantly, was Citizen Kane’s rebellious style that
broke almost all Hollywood tradition.
Orson Welles’ ability to make each scene, each shot, and each camera angle
of Citizen Kane unique to the movie
making business led to its great success and reception with critics. Welles’ gift for directing made the movie a
joy to watch. Every camera shot was
unique and had a reason for its style.
For example, this shot, the
camera’s angle, and the scene’s lighting display the tension between the two
characters and the feeling of inferiority.
It is also amazing, as seen from the picture below that Orson Welles was
willing to do anything to get the shot that he desired.
Shots and style like this were used
in every scene, thanks to Welles’ perfect ingenuity. This type of directing, scene structure, and
camera style that has made Citizen Kane
become one of the best movies ever made has also become the favorite of many
modern-day directors like Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott,
Francis F. Coppola, Brian de Palma, and the Coen Brothers who all claim to have
been influenced by Citizen Kane and Orson Welles’
directing.
2.
Within Orson Welles’ first 23 years of career, he specialized in theater
and some radio later giving rise to his complete creative control in
Hollywood. During the 1930’s, Welles was
hired to direct and produce multiple productions for the Federal Theatre
project and later went on to form the Mercury Theatre. His productions included plays like Macbeth, Horse Eats Hat, The Tragical
History of Doctor Faustus, and Julius
Caesar. The formation of the Mercury
Theatre gave way to Welles’ acting career on radio as he stared in multiple
broadcast including The Shadow, and the memorable and terrifying broadcast of H.G.
Wells’ The War of the Worlds. Welles’, whose directing genius was noticed from
these humble beginnings, was offered a contract by RKO Studio’s president
George Schaefer offering him complete artistic control of two pictures. The young Welles’ love for theatre lead to
his youthful success in film. His first
movie, Citizen Kane starred most of
the actors from the Mercury Theatre who worked for Orson Welles. Never leaving his roots in live performance,
Welles’ climbed the latters of Hollywood, and with his knack for the trade,
became one of the best directors of all time.
3. "A Marriage Just Like Any Other"
The scene in Citizen
Kane where the aged Jedediah describes Kane’s first marriage with Emily is
a beautiful example of the Welles’ directing genius in order to completely and
effectively tell a story. In order to
show the degrading marriage and increasing tension between Mr. and Mrs. Kane,
the elements of directing, writing, performance, art direction, editing, and
score had to be perfect. The beginning
of the scene introduces the reporter interviewing Jedediah Leland who begins to
describe the story of the newlyweds and their degradation over time via
flashback. The writing of this scene intrigues
the audience with the sense of an outside look at a snippet of life of the
famous Charles Kane. Directing the two
actors to move further and further away as the marriage went on showed the
continuing build-up of tension among the two lovers.
Orson Welles’ and Ruth Warrick’s
performance truly made the scene like a “marriage just like any other.” At first they showed affectionate love toward
each other and were interested in each other’s lives. However, as the scene progressed, the actors
began to show more and more tension between each other, as they began to become
shorter in tone, and eventually stopped talking all together. This increasing stress made this sequence
truly a realistic scenario and quite detrimental to the film’s tone. Within the scene itself, with regards to art
direction, the apparent tension between the two increases with the less and
less flowers placed in the scene and the darker and darker clothing that
Charles Kane wears. To parallel these
elements, the editing style of cutting to points in the couple’s life by use of
the spinning camera and short quick shots of each other’s facial expressions
were used. Lastly, if the scene wasn’t
already stressful enough, the score slowly became more dark and angry just like
the marriage. This small scene was only
an example of the perfectionist, artistic style that Welles’ possessed and
displayed throughout the movie. His use
of many of the elements of film made each and every scene, like the one described,
beautiful, flawless, and an accurate account of life of a failing success.
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