And Welles's Charlie Kane is not even a self-made man. He had his wealth handed to him. He was never the underdog. Haughty, impulsive, charming and charismatic : the 25-year‐old Welles is so handsome, leonine, with an intelligent, perennially amused face, like a young Bob Hope.
What makes Citizen Kane so special?
For many critics and film fans, Citizen Kane can lay claim to the title of the greatest movie ever made precisely because, even if only in the form of in-camera effects and a wealthy, lonely anti-villain, Welles' movie even influenced the direction of Rotten Tomatoes' highest-rated movie, 2017's Paddington 2.
What is Citizen Kane known for?
It is the most critically acclaimed motion picture in history . It is considered by many to be the greatest film ever made. Every modern filmmaker my friend, or anyone for that matter, enjoys, was influenced by this 1941 masterpiece.
What kind of story is Citizen Kane?
The quasi-biographical film examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, a composite character based on American media barons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, Chicago tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick, as well as aspects of the screenwriters' own lives.
What is the message in Citizen Kane?
The difficulty of interpreting a person's life once that life has ended is the central theme of Citizen Kane.
Why was Citizen Kane so controversial?
Mayer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was said Hearst was particularly angry over the movie's depiction of a character based on his companion , Marion Davies, a former showgirl whom he had helped become a popular Hollywood actress.
Why is it called Citizen Kane?
Well let's start with the Kane part of Citizen Kane, since it's the part of the title that's taken from our main character's name. ... Cain is the name of a dude who kills his brother because of jealousy and pride . He also ends up getting banished into the wilderness forever.
What were Citizen Kane's last words?
Kane's last word, we learn, was “ Rosebud” .
Why was Citizen Kane taken away from his mother?
Charles Foster Kane was born of humble origins in the small settlement of Little Salem, Colorado, circa 1863. A mine given to his parents — to settle a bill for room and board — happened to be rich in gold, making the family suddenly wealthy. ... However, Kane blamed Thatcher for ripping him away from his family.
What does Rosebud symbolize?
“Rosebud is the trade name of a cheap little sled on which Kane was playing on the day he was taken away from his home and his mother . In his subconscious it represented the simplicity, the comfort, above all the lack of responsibility in his home, and also it stood for his mother's love, which Kane never lost.”
What are the main themes of Citizen Kane?
- Wealth.
- Love.
- Society and Class.
- Power.
- Innocence.
- Pride.
How does Citizen Kane start?
Citizen Kane opens with the camera panning across a spooky, seemingly deserted estate in Florida called Xanadu. ... The camera focuses on the old man's mouth, which whispers one word: “Rosebud.” He then drops the globe, which rolls onto the floor and shatters.
What is the moral of the story in Citizen Kane?
Kane has the plutocrat's obsession with trying to control those around him in the way that he controls his media empire, whose purpose in turn is to control the way people think. And this is the final unspoken moral of Citizen Kane: a terrible tragedy of ownership and egotism – a narcissistic drowning.
Did anyone hear Kane say Rosebud?
He just said “Rosebud” and then he dropped that glass ball and it broke on the floor. “He didn't say anything about that, so I knew he was dead – He said all kind of things I couldn't make out. But I knew how to take care of him.”
How did Citizen Kane get his money?
Early years. Kane is born of humble origins in the fictional settlement of Little Salem, Colorado, in 1862 or 1863. A supposedly worthless mine given to his mother in 1868—to settle a bill for room and board by Fred Graves — is discovered to be rich in gold , making the family suddenly fabulously wealthy.
What is considered the greatest movie of all time?
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) was voted the greatest film of all time by Empire readers in “The 201 Greatest Movies of All Time” poll undertaken in March 2006. Titanic (1997) was voted the greatest hit of all time in a poll of 6,000 movie fans conducted by English-language newspaper China Daily in March 2008.
