Citizen Kane

1941 • 119 minutes

À propos de ce film

Orson Welles' masterwork (#1 in the American Film Institute's list of Best American Movies) dazzles anew in a superb 70th-anniversary digital transfer. It's grand entertainment, sharply acted (starting many of Welles' Mercury Players on the road to thriving film careers) and directed with inspired visual flair. Chronicling the stormy life of an influential publishing tycoon, this Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winner (1941) is rooted in themes of power, corruption, vanity -- the American Dream lost in the mystery of a dying man's last word: "Rosebud." MPAA Rating: PG Copyright © 1941 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Notes et avis

When I first saw Citizen Kan, I was bored to tears. I just didn't get it. However: When Rosebud's significance was finally revealed, my whole attitude changed. Here's the deal: If you ever find yourself taking a Film, Cinema, or Performance type of class in college, dollars to donuts Citizen Kane will be required viewing, and you can jolly well expect to write a paper on it. Those who badmouth this movie: I understand. It can be heavy going for the uninitiated. Welles wanted to ensure utter perfection. Herman J. Mankiewicz co-wrote the script in early 1940. He and Welles separately re-wrote and revised each other's work until Welles was satisfied with the finished product. Welles pioneered so many techniques in Kane, modern filmmakers all owe him a huge debt of gratitude. Cinematographer Gregg Toland wanted to work with Welles for the opportunity of trying experimental camera techniques that other films did not allow. It's worth learning about, and getting to know this movie. Welles was 'all in' and so utterly committed to this project, he fell ten feet while shooting the scene in which Kane shouts at the departing Boss Jim W. Gettys; his injuries required him to direct from a wheelchair for two weeks. Although various sources were used as a model for Kane, William Randolph Hearst was the primary inspiration. Hearst was disturbed by the film's supposed depiction of Marion Davies, but Welles always denied that Susan Alexander Kane was based on Davies. Think of it this way, if most movies nowadays could be considered a hot dog. This is filet mignon. It shall always stand the test of time.

Welles took a huge gamble making Citizen Kane the way he did. He largely discarded many of the Hollywood rules, both artistic and technical. The result was a movie unlike any other--actors deliberately walking on each other's lines, the camera looking at things in ways it just wasn't supposed to. In the end, Welles re-wrote the very rules he'd ignored. But the film also remains a classic for another, much simpler reason: it's hugely entertaining.

This film is widely regarded as the greatest film ever made by a varied list of highly acclaimed film critics and experts. This belief carries over to low intelligence film school students, self described movie buffs, movie geeks, and many other bleating sheep who believe they must parrot what they've heard from wise men who have expounded endlessly on the beauty of the emperor's new clothes, or else they will be considered a dullard or worse, someone who doesn't 'get it'. But the blowhards, the bleating