Citizen Kane

[ono]

I did a little search, and saw there was a thread on Welles, but nothing on Kane itself.  So here's one for ya.  If you don't like long rants about movies, and the love of movies, and the people who watch movies, turn back now.

So like, I started a new year at university this week.  I'm taking this Media Criticism class, first three films being screened, Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard, and The Limey.  I've seen the first two, so the first two weeks are kind of a waste, but I'm glad they threw The Limey in there, because I need to see more Soderbergh.  Our professor wants us to take notes during the film.  I hate that, and actually I didn't bother.  When I'm watching a film, I want to watch the fucking film.  If a moment is important to recall, I know I'll remember it afterwards.  Minor rant that's worth saying.

Anyway, that's just background.  This is more about the greatness that is Citizen Kane.  And a few minor annoyances of mine.  So our first film was screened tonight in this big auditorium.  Nice, new place with two small screens on either side, and a big one in the middle.  They couldn't get the projector to work for the big screen so everyone's heads were slighted crooked to the right.  Also, they got an old VHS out of the media resource center; the same VHS, no doubt, that I watched Citizen Kane from for the first time back in February-ish.  There's a DVD out, you think they could've splurged.

In my class before the screening, our professor asked who'd seen Kane before, and I was only one of like two.  Five classes combined to assemble for the film, so I figured a lot of people would have this same new reaction.  My response toward the classics seems to be delayed; it took me a while to appreciate in full the beauty of Casablanca, Dr. Strangelove, and Citizen Kane.  All three of them I didn't really love until I saw them twice.  But it's still always amusing (and saddening at times), to see people's first responses to movies you think are great.

The lights go down, and I watch a blonde girl in the row in front of me, sucking on a lollipop, write this at the top of a blank page in her notebook:

Citizen Kane
Orsen Wells

I kid you not.

The next second, up on the screen comes the credits:

CITIZEN
KANE

and then something like:

"A film by Orson Welles."

And nope, she didn't scribble out her mistake, much less notice it.  Yeah, I know it may be a little snobby of me to laugh at that, but what can I say, I just found that funny.  Maybe it was the lollipop and the blonde hair...

Watching the film with people who may not have the same level of enthusiasm about film as you can be depressing.  Case in point.  I see people slouching down, falling asleep, and just not really getting into it.  Worse, I see them laughing at the film, not with it.  They don't really get the jokes, and they laugh at things they shouldn't.

Citizen Kane is both timeless and dated at the same time.  While I watched it, I kept thinking of the possibilities if it were to be fixed or remade.  But then I thought about Casablanca and Jen & Ben's rumored aspirations to remake that, and I immediately put a stop to that line of thought.  The sound on the film was bad (stupid VHS), and in some places, the soundtrack and acting were laughable, but as a whole, Kane is still one of the most powerful film ever.

The first time I watched it, I started to lose focus during the part about Susan's "rise and fall."  And now, it just grated on me, but if looked at with a satirical eye, you can see why it did what it did, and how well it accomplished what it was set out to do.

My enjoyment of a film, as I've said before, has a lot to do with the audience I see it with.  In this case, people laughed at parts they simply shouldn't have.  A level of disbelief and trust has to be assumed on the part of the viewer anytime a film is shown.  The filmmaker is saying "trust me, and I'll give you a story, transport you to another world."  But this requires of the viewer a suspension of disbelief.  This is why horror films don't work well with certain audiences, and you find them laughing at things that the filmmaker meant to be scary.  They don't allow themselves to be immersed in the world of the film they are viewing.

So comes the point in the film where Susan (that bitch) leaves Kane.  He's emaciated now; this requires that suspension of disbelief, and I'd hate to think how poorly received the scene would be had it been in color.  I bought the aged Kane.  Others didn't.  I heard a few stifled chuckles.  Then, when he goes on a tirade, tearing up the room, deliberately slinging various bric-a-brac across it, another girl sitting in the row in front of me just laughs.  Kane looks like a hulking beast here, and he goes on a rampage, just tearing the room up.  The word "ape-shit" came to mind.  But the girl found it funny.  I guess in it was in a way, but not "funny ha-ha."  Different strokes for different folks, though, I guess.

And then, there's the ending.  One of the best endings ever.  Paraphrased, "Just burn this junk!" one of the movers shouts, then the burning of the sled, revealed to be Rosebud, the billowing smoke, and the "NO TRESPASSING" sign leading to the exterior of Xanadu then FADE OUT.  I savored it.  Others were just anxious to sign the class role saying they attended the film and get the hell out of there.

Seeing the film a second time just elevates the drama of everything, and the tragic, bittersweet life Kane led.  The camerawork was what I paid attention to most this time around, to get an idea of how revolutionary the film was in that area.  I saw the Kane song, and thought of The White Stripes, and how they too appreciated this work.  I loved how much focus was placed on the sled, and at the same time, how subtle it was.  How everyone was seeking what Kane sought, and how it turned out to be something so simple.  All the waste of Xanadu, the lonliness, and the sadness.  And, shot after shot after shot masterfully conceived,  from towering politicians plotting to a long shot of Kane "preaching" to his choir to "infinite Kane" in the hall of mirrors.  If I had the DVD and the right software, I'd show you for myself.

Side note: afterwards, I went to see Owning Mahowny.  There were only four other people in the theatre for the final showing.  I love "crowds" like that.  Mahowny, too, was great, but of course, no Kane.  Then again, what is?  There are problems with Kane, of course, but no film is perfect.  Sometimes, when I watch films, I want to react with pure emotion; the same level of emotion that was put in to the film in the first place.  Kane evokes that in me.  In the past I said it was a bit overrated, but seeing it a second time, I fully believe it deserves every accolade it has received.  I think Magnolia is a better film now, but for 1941 -- and for pretty much every film since then, save a list I won't type for fear of leaving an important film off -- Citizen Kane is the best game in town.  ****+/**** (10/10)

Whew, my ass hurts from all that typing.  Don't ask.

[Ravi]

Sometimes I do think that people cannot or will not suspend their disbelief during a film and that they're too cynical to be absorbed in a film, but then I remember that audiences at most films I see don't laugh at serious things.

I don't think anything more can be said about Citizen Kane, except how young people today react to it.  Was there any discussion among the students after the films?  Did you overhear any comments by others?  Perhaps some people react oddly to CK because it isn't necessarily immediately touching.  With a film like Grapes of Wrath, we immediately sympathize with the plight of the Joads.  Charles Foster Kane isn't a loveable character on the surface, but the more I think about it the more I feel sorry for him.

[cine]

Charles Foster Kane isn't a loveable character on the surface, but the more I think about it the more I feel sorry for him.

Oh definitely. Kane tries so hard to be loveable for us, and for me I'd say he succeeds. I always surrender to that pure Orson Welles grin, such as the first scene where he's introduced as a young Kane and he explains the company can survive for anything 60 years. To me, he can act mean all he wants but I always think deep down that there's CFK thinking about Rosebud, and I feel sorry for him. Because deep down I think a lot of us are like that. I think we all have that little Kane in all of us that can have that built up aggression.. that power and ego to a point.. but deep down, we have that soft spot that Kane possesses.. that spot that reminds us that under all the greed and anger.. there's a little boy/girl who just wants to come out and for some reason or another they can't. And to not wax philosophical so much, there's that part of us who just doesn't want a slice of their childhood stripped from them. He may be power hungry and he may push people around - but goddamnit, he's Charles Foster Kane, and he's only human.

[Derek237]

I haven't seen it yet so please don't spoil the ending.

Oh wait, I know the ending. Everyone does.

Oh wait, I have seen it. It sucked! (jk)

I've seen Citizen Kane only once so giving any comments on it wouldn't do it justice. All's I know is that when I see a really good, well made movie I get this indescribable feeling. A sort of buzz I guess. And I got that with Kane.

I didn't read your entire post, only about half, sorry. I'm just too damn tired right now to read anything more than a cereal box.

[cowboykurtis]

i DESPISE thee LIMEY -- but do give him props for getting it made -- its shot really  nice as well - much respect -- just dont like the film -- for some reason terrance stamp really gets on my nerves.