Summer of Movies #2: Citizen Kane

Now that you now what #2 is, I'm pretty sure you can guess what #1 is, and you can guess it as long as you have a parent or was alive during or after the 70's. But we're not talking about that movie, no we're talking about the movie that is either right behind or just ahead of that movie. But you've never heard of it because no one went to see it because it was too ahead of its time, literally this is considered one of the biggest financial flops in film, yet the most critical praised film to this day. I'm talking about...

PLOT

We begin our film with a man on his death bed as he utters one of the most famous, cryptic, and well known spoilers in history, "Rosebud". This man was Charles Foster Kane, one of the biggest newspaper owners in existence, an extremely influential man, a man who was just as hated as he was loved, and a very complex man. Because of his extremely high status, a group of reporters are going crazy trying to find out what Kane's last words meant. One reporter decides to investigate by asking the people Kane was closest to, as we are shown Kane's interesting life.

PROS

This was Orson Welles's dream project. He had a hand in everything, directing, writing, producing, acting, cinematography, even the editing, and he pulls each area off flawlessly. The writing is amazing and leads to some insanely detailed and well-rounded characters, the stand-out being Kane

The acting is also amazing, with everyone doing a great job, which is funny since most of the actors had only done radio up to this point, including Welles, who once again kills it as Charles Kane. He doesn't seem like Orson Welles playing a character, it seems like Charles Kane is a real, living person, all thanks to Welles

One surprising thing about this film is that it's known as one of the biggest advancements in special effects, which surprising considering that this is a character/story driven movie. Well the special effects are so well done in that they are used to do things only imagined at this point in terms of camera movements and make-up. All the actors play their old and younger selves, and the make-up is just so effective that it was hard for me to tell that they had make-up on.

This film plays with shadows and camera shots in so interesting ways that even I, a guy that can barely tell the difference between camera lenses, was filled with awe.

The character of Charles Foster Kane, and his story, is so complex and so well done that it's just interesting to wonder and speculate just what is going on in his head, even though he's a fictional character. He is the definition of a character who leaps off the page, or in this case the screen. 

CONS

Do I even dare? I mean, this is considered the greatest film of all time. Luckily, I couldn't one flaw!

CONCLUSION

This is the definition of living up to the hype. All my life I'd heard only amazing things about this film was, how all other "great films" were compared to it, the joke of "Well it's not 'Citizen Kane'" was thrown out, and yet it somehow lived up to all of my expectations. And even though you probably already know the twist, the journey is just so entertaining that the twist doesn't even matter. Please, do yourself a favor and watch this film. It's one of the most influential and timeless pieces of entertainment in our history. While it's not in my personal top 10 films of all time, it's certainly a close 11.

RATING

CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!!!!!