Citizen Kane
In the film Citizen Kane, it became evident that the American Dream was “hollow” for Charles Kane, and I do think this somewhat has resonance in today’s moviegoers. As people are still understanding of the original idea and purpose of the American Dream, it becomes almost necessary by today’s standards for some people to behave as Kane did do achieve such status, especially financially. We exist in the “me generation”—one that somewhat mirrors Kane’s desire in the film to attain everything for himself before others. It is after Kane establishes himself financially that he pursues the more real things of life, such as companionship and world travels, which also corresponds to our latest generational trends, for the most part. Even then, at the end of the day the only love Kane has is for himself.
I believe that if people were shown this film today, they would at least be understanding of its meaning, even if they didn’t care. True, this film would not be the most intriguing at first glance, or be the top seller at the box office, but the symbols and messages in Citizen Kane are still well applicable in today’s society, and I think everyone who watched it today would be appreciative. For example, the monopolization of public media and use of it to sway opinions is still an issue today (although it is not always readily evident) as it was when Kane controlled newspapers countrywide in the film. The thing that could be asked of people today after viewing Citizen Kane is at least to take a second thought at how they are being influenced in their every day lives by surrounding media.
As far as the cinematography of this film goes, it was a little too different from current films for my liking. I felt that some scenes, both significant and not, were awkwardly lingered upon during the filming, and certain visual or audio effects were too overdone for their purpose. Thankfully, these things were not a great hindrance to the plot.