At a glance:
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Plot: Rosebud - whispers Kane (Orson Welles), the media tycoon with his last breath. A short piece of news is made about his life but it's way too boring, so a journalist is told to investigate his life, including the meaning of "rosebud". So he visits all the important people in Kane's life...
Theme: The film presents the fictive life of the media tycoon (strongly resembling William Randolph Hearst), and we can see into his personality and motives. In the meantime we also learn about how mean the media and politics work.
Content: They say the narrative was innovative in its time, because it showed us different perspectives of the same thing. In this plot it served the function of getting Kane know. It was also unusual to have flashbacks and non-linear narrative: we did not see Kane's life in chronological order but in a way to deepen our knowledge of him. For this reason the film is compared to the style of Marcel Proust.
Form: The film is famous for its innovative visual elements, particularly the deep focus. For, me, however, is most apparent the composition of the scenes, the way characters are emphasized with lightning or positioning. For my delight, it did not lack expressionist elements as well.
Impression: Its hard to criticize the film, both the content and the visuals are cleverly made, but for me it lacked the catharsis. It had many great scenes, but none of them could really reach me.
Trivia:
- Welles was considered a young genius, that's the reason why he could make a film without any restrictions. He had his own theater company by the age of 22; he was 23 when he directed his famous radio play - thanks to this latter success did he get the opportunity to direct his first film at 26.
- Hearst, however, was not happy about the film and did everything to stop its release - this caused initial failures, but eventually the film was a success.
