Citizen Kane

Hmmm....  This was a complex film about a very complex person.  The theme was the same as The Cider House Rules in that it is about the life of Charles Kane (The Art of Watching Films, p. 405).

The film is in black and white which really adds to the aura, and of course, to the era.  If this film would have been in color, it would have taken away the uneasy feeling it portrayed in the first few scenes, and also gave you a false sense of the time it was in.

In the beginning, it shows several fences with Xanadu finally showing up in the background.  The lighting and music gave it an eerie or Transylvania feel. 

It was really cool to read about deep focus in The Art of Watching Films and then have it happen so much in this film, and you knew what was going on.  One scene in particular was when Kane's mom was signing control of her son, Kane, over to Mr. Thatcher and you could see Kane outside, through the window, playing (p. 145). 

Dissolve was also used a lot in this film.  Out of all the films I've seen, I don't remember scenes like this, or maybe I just never noticed, but having read about dissolve and then seeing it happen so much in this film was cool.  Dissolve was used in this film when a flashback was going to occur (The Art of Watching Films, p. 197).

There were all kinds of lighting used in this film.  Low-key lighting was used in some scenes almost creating silhouettes of the characters.  Shadowing was also used as well as high-key lighting.

The music was very evident in this film.  It got louder in some scenes to place more emphasis on the moment, like when the light went out in the window.

In The Art of Watching Films, it says that Kane was possibly a static character.  I disagree with this.  Kane changed as the film progressed.  In the end, he abused his wealth and power and ended up lonely and alone (p. 69).

The snow globe in the beginning of the film symbolized how Kane remembered his home life, where he was once happy with his sled in the snow.  When he died, that was what he remembered.

This film was always showing up in films to watch so I finally thought I would watch it.  Of course, I thought it was a western, so I was immediately disappointed to see that it wasn't.  I got bored watching it.  My husband and I had fun trying to pick out what was happening in the scenes as far as lighting, sound, camera angle, and focus.  I almost took it out and was going to watch Philadelphia, but I suffered through it.  This film really didn't reflect a society as a whole, it showed what an eccentric is like, or what we perceive an eccentric to be like.  I will give little thought to this film.

Charles Kane was an overgrown child that didn't play well with others, and you got tired of watching him try to push his weight around.  Definitely a thumbs down!