LET’S TALK ABOUT… Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is another movie, along with Casablanca, Vertigo, The Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia etc…, that frequently tops “Best of” lists.  It’s Orson Wells’ magnum opus.  A vanity project.  It was a box office flop.  It was booed at the Oscars.   It was way ahead of its time.  It is now known as one of the greatest examples of American Cinema at its most innovative. 

It’s basically the story of the life and death of the title character, a newspaper magnate famously based off of William Randolph Hearst.   There are endless topics to discuss about this movie but I want to talk about direction.

In acting, there was acting before Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, and there was acting after Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire.  For direction, there was directing before Orson Wells’ Citizen Kane, and there was directing after Orson Wells’ Citizen Kane.

 

Orson Wells, a renowned actor, also wrote, produced, and directed this film.  He’s sort of like George Clooney.  Or Ben Affleck. 

Check out the opening.

The camera slowly panning up the gates that go on forever... It's sort of like the opening of Star Wars, with the camera shooting the bottom of the Star Destroyer as it just goes and goes and goes. Unforgettable stuff.  Very Influential.  

Now consider that this movie was made in 1941.  Consider the technological limitations.  

Now watch as Wells blows through them to achieve his vision.

Now, I wish I knew more about the technical aspects of film making.  I won't lie to you, I know virtually nothing about the camera.  What I do know is movies, and I can't name a single film before this one that uses a camera like this.  Just look at the opening scene where we see the nurse come in through the reflection of the broken glass snowball, or this last scene where the camera passes through a sign, then through the glass to get into the restaurant.  It's like a spirit or something.  

I'll admit, there is a very clear dissolve as it goes through the glass, but I still don't know how it got through that sign.

Here's one last clip of Wells playing with reflections.