Parent reviews for Citizen Kane

Great movie tells the rise and and fall of a complex magnate. It may seem average but this movie was revolutionary and it’s inspiration is in every movie you see today.

I watched this film for the first time when I was a teenager and I thought it was nothing more but an interesting mystery and average in every other way. Viewing the film again a wee bit older offers different insight. Screening it on a much bigger screen also helps, making the lighting and the deep focus emerge much stronger. I can see why Welles made such a splash and how history held him to a different kind of standard. I think the film is uniquely well made and very interesting and it definitely takes chances on how the shots are laid out, but "greatest film ever made?" That is a title that seems unfair to bestow onto any film.

Perfect for a family night out with teens that loves vintage movies. You will then see why this movie became so meme'd through the decades.

I tried to watch it. I wanted to know why this is considered to be "the greatest film of all time". I am now confused as to why it still has a 100% Rotten Tomato score yet Google user score of 80-somethingish. I found it boring as heck. I can sit through a film from the silent era and be totally engrossed in what I'm watching while reading the story and enjoy what I'm watching. This movie is not enjoyable. As for the cinematography there's also better from the silent era though I can't recommend the one that does better camera work because it's that racist one but it definitely looks better than this. And silent era Hamlet is also more interesting than this. As far as classic "talkies" go, It's A Wonderful Life is similar and less dragged out. And it's also more appealing to younger veiwers. I really wanted to like it or at least figure out what the ending was but I couldn't get invested enough to stay awake to find out by viewing what the Rosebud thing is and I'm not even sure that I care enough to Google spoilers. Yup I'm too bored to read the spoiler for the ending. As far as what I can spoil to save anyone else from boredom, the guy is obviously depressed and tries to get ahead in life to make up for his lack of self worth and dies miserable and alone. Still don't care about what his dying words meant and I doubt I ever will since I have had over a decade after seeing it to do so.

Finally, I got to watch Citizen Kane, and there is no confusion about why this is commonly considered one of the greatest films of all-time. I watched many movies that have been described as "Revolutionary" and "Game-changing". But besides that Citizen Kane really deserve to be called so more than any movie I've watched in my life, it's could be the oldest movie that is as influential as it is timeless. I felt I was watching a movie the has been released couple years ago, except it's shot in black and white. An ecstasy of light and shadow, of clashing textures and graphic forms. A haunting cinematography that makes Citizen Kane one of the best-looking movies to date. an exuberant use of camera placement and movement and inventive lighting. Yes, it's above all a visual achievement. But all these innovative techniques shouldn't be questioned whether they still hold up or not. Because they don't just hold up to this day, but they are as fresh and contemporary as they were in 1941. But all that is from the technical standpoint, so what about the screenplay, the narrative, the story? As Orson Welles took many risks directing Citizen Kane he also took risks writing it's Oscar-winning script with Herman J. Mankiewicz. And of course by risks I mean the unprecedented use of flashbacks, and the non-linear storytelling. And While I can't say this way of storytelling paid off perfectly, I have to admit that this structure has changes the game forever in film-making. It took me a while to be engaged with the characters, and the story itself. That's because the pacing was confusingly fast at the beginning, and some important aspects and details in the story needed to be more focused on. It also dragged, and almost lost me a couple of times. As I mentioned above, the build up for the titular character could've been way better, at least to make me invested in the character from the start. With that being said, the more the time goes, the more I became engaged with the story, and invested in all the characters, not only Charles Kane. And I couldn't help but hope for some explanation about the fate of Kane. After some more minutes, I realized that Citizen Kane is a character study, actually, a very complex and compelling one. The story became more poignant and moving. By the way, if you still haven't watched Citizen Kane because you think it's a pretty serious and bleak film, you better watch it ASAP. Because it's actually funny! Yes, sometimes it's funny in a cynical way, but it is always a light-hearted movie, and easy to watch. But that doesn't mean it's a feel-good movie at all. As I mentioned, it the story becomes more touching and emotional as it proceeds, and it's represented in a flashback structure to reveal some mysteries about a publishing tycoon's rise and fall who dies corrupt and alone. So I think you get the point. All the performances are impeccable, and Orson Welles' performance is as terrific as his direction. Also, Joseph Cotten is great as always. Also, the dialogue is so clever, and there are a fair share of very subtle lines. Citizen Kane is far from perfect, IMO. Nevertheless, it somehow lives up to its reputation as a landmark achievement in film. But what's striking now is how utterly modern it is in direction. (8/10)

I will give this movie a 3/5 stars because it had good moments and it was a deep movie; it was not a shallow story but it had a dry way of expressing it. When Kane was older, he seemed to care of nothing accept for his newspaper and random statues. The camera angles that were used affective, but not too prominent. The more prominent details were in the set up of the scenes, for example; when Kane is sitting on his throne of a chair, and his second wife is all the way across the huge room on the floor doing a puzzle. This showed the separation that had grown between them, she was unintertained by him and he cared not to give her attention. A good significant camera angle/moment, was when Kane was telling his second wife she had to sing; Kane was standing tall over her and she was on her knees crying, his shadow was half cast onto her and you could see her fear of him. This showed that he didn't really love her very much, but just had her as a wife so that it would make him look good. She also bore no children, so that could also show more in there relationship. Besides those factors, and the mysterious rosebud, some of the scenes in the beginning if he film made me dizzy, and I felt the movie was too long for the point it was making. The film, to me, was not emotional enough. It didn't move me in any way, accept maybe to desire a huge mansion, so I did not think it was the best.

A boy who was sold, grew up to be an adult who didn't care about money, who grew into an older man wanting power and bought many things to try and replace something lost in his life. Charles Foster Kane's last words "Rosebud" left people curious about what he meant and through out the movie journalist try to uncover the meaning of his last dying word. The light density of course plays an important role in a classic black and white movie, and can give the viewer hints about the messages in the film. The lighting was definitely great, it created certain moods at certain points in the film and can also show emotions of the characters, such as when his second wife left him. Overall the movie can be quite boring but it was interesting. If you can actually pay attention to it, I think the message of this film was that money cant buy happiness.

The movie wasn't very good. But as the movie went on, the movie has scattered pieces that is unexpected to make out. I never imagine that this movie is very depressing. My favorite part was the last part of the when they show the last missing piece. The shading was on spot. It was extremely good. My favorite character was the main character(Mr.Kane). Mr.Kane was a mysterious man with hidden messages. He wasn't a good guy but he did it for the best. Other than his previous marriages, he was bad at being a husband because he really didn't buy anything for them. Mr.Kane did what he did for a reason.