Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane

1941

Director: Orson Welles

Writer: Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles

119 Minutes

Childhood memories hold a certain nostalgic emotion for most people, certainly for a man named Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles).

Mainly because he never got a childhood.

In the opening scene of this film, the almost fading Kane whispers his final words, “Rosebud,” which opens a mystery to who was the man behind the money, fame, and fortune.

“Rosebud,” made every list of pivotal lines in American cinema and eventually answered what was important to Charles Foster Kane.

Citizen Kane, originally called “The American”, had an unique narrative structure, using advance cinematography techniques, and had creative uses of light and shadow; most of which were never seen before, changed the game of filmmaking, and are still used today. These elements are why Citizen Kane is called “one of the best films ever made.”

That’s it.

Then there was William Randolph Hearst, a newspaper tycoon and inspiration for Charles Foster Kane, who wanted to shut down the film, sending threats to Orson Welles and stating the first-time director was a communist. Hearst goal was the turn America against Welles, yes the newspaper tycoon eventually went bankrupt. This allowed Welles to finish his film. Though “Rosebud,” an underlining shot at the Hearst (a Hitler sympathizer) was Heart’s pet name for his mistress's clitoris.

But the question remains: What was Rosebud in the film?

In the scene above, Jed Leland (Joseph Cotton) had investigated the life of Charles Foster Kane, which ended at Kane’s kingdom called Xanadu. Surrounded by Kane’s materialistic goods, Jed Leland admits that a man cannot be summed up by one word and that we may never know who Kane was. Following Leland exit, several movers begin to burn Kane’s unneeded goods.

One of them was his childhood sled named Rosebud.

In the film, Kane was ripped from his childhood home and taken into a life of money, power, and wealth. This lead to his ultimate demise, yet he never forgot the happiness his meager childhood gave him; the happiness this sled gave him. And in the end, that sled - the memory - was the last time he was happy and content.

Kane is no different than any man. He wants to be happy and throughout the film, you understand that mistresses, castles, and a fortune does not ultimately make one content. Sometimes, it’s something very small, old, and worthless.

Something like a sled.

Had Kane never been taken away from his family, he would have lived a poor, mundane life. Perhaps that’s what he needed. Perhaps that's what he wanted. Because throughout the film, nothing else made him as happy as sledding down the snowy hill behind his childhood home.

This spoils of the film, but most will never see this film. And the ones that commit to watching “one of the greatest films of all time” will already know the ending.

It's a interesting film, but difficult to get into. And most question why it's one of the greats.

In the end, Citizen Kane – a story of the life of William Randolph Hearst - is no different than the man himself, Orson Welles. There is a large comparison behind these two men, which can explain how greed can destroy an individual, even if he has everything he wanted.

Both men discovered that, but it took Charles Foster Kane to tell us about it.