Citizen Kane: Mariam Elrashidi
I must say I really enjoyed watching the film Citizen Kane. I have never seen the film before so I was very glad to have gotten the opportunity to watch it. Watching the film I can see why this makes most people’s top five list. It has a lot of creativity, unique setups, angle shots, and lighting that intrigues people to the movie. Even though this film may not have been one of my top five choices, I still thought it was a good movie that portrayed a good example of how films have changed since the 1940s till now. One example of this is how Orson Welles portrayed Charles Kane as a famous moneymaker man who had everything, but truthfully was disliked and was not the people’s definition of living the American Dream.
Another thing I really liked about the film was how Orson Welles setup a creative, innovated and well scripted plot. Not only did it make watching the film that more entertaining but interesting to compare his film technique to present film makers. For example, the film didn’t start off like your typical movies. It first started off somewhat like a documentary, where the narrator briefly introduced Charles Kane’s life, to setup the story line. However, it eventually ended up being the reporters who were watching and analyzing Charles Kane life’s story to find out what his last dying word “Rosebud� meant. In my opinion I thought this was a creative way to setup the start of the film because you don’t know what to expect or how it will turn out, since it doesn’t really start off like your typical movies. Speaking of that same scene I also noticed how Orson Welles didn’t direct any light or much angle shots on the reporters. Rather it was more focused on the main characters and hints throughout the film. Like at the beginning of the film when the scene was first focused on Kane’s mansion. Immediately you saw the change in the lights, angles and music and how it prepared you for something sad or tragic that was soon to come. The originality and creativity of this film is what made Charles Kane a popular classic movie today and is why it is on most people’s top five list.