Fave-oween #26: Citizen Kane

    Yeah, I know.
#26: Citizen Kane
    Yes, it's the most obvious choice anyone could ever make for one of my favorite movies. I'm aware. But there's a reason this film is considered one of the best, if not the best, of all time.
    To be honest, while I can respect films like Grapes of Wrath and Sullivan's travels, it's sometimes hard to enjoy films released during this time period. It's not the film's fault itself, it's just they move too slowly and don't translate to modern audiences. With only a few exceptions, like Frank Capra (who I'll get to later) and of course Orson Welles, most filmmakers weren't able to get their ideas and style out to the masses in a way that would be able to hold up decades later.
    However, clearly Orson Welles was some kind of genius. He had to have known that this film was so much different, so much more bitterly realistic and also incredibly paced to be able to stay entertaining to further generations. The character of Kane is so intricate. Welles creates a scarred, beaten man locked away behind layers of protection to cover his true emotions. As the viewer watches his life go through the roller coaster, there is such an eerie feel surrounding the man, some off element about him that keeps you peeled to the screen. It's not just the way he writes Kan, but it's the way he acts the character too. Every move he makes, every agitated, stiff move, does not seem like a hotshot upstart in filmmaking acting like Kane, it feels like Kane himself. When Kane gets angry and throws his possessions around, Welles stiffens his bodies, and makes nearly indistinct grunts like the man really would. When he laughs, he's able to laugh "old" somehow, and smile in the same way a grandpa would.
    The cinematography and editing only adds to the character, and still stands as creative and haunting today. The montage for instance, that shows several different arguments between Kane and his wife over the course of many years, brings attention to how heated and argumentative he is, and how terrible their marriage must have been to be sitting at opposite ends of this large table and also be only arguing with each other. Even with a lot of the symbolic imagery, like Kane slowly walking between the two mirrors set across from each other. You could be like me and be totally obtuse to the metaphor, but there's still a somber, ominous fell to those few seconds, and it sticks with you for a while.
    The way the story is told, although it's a basic idea today, is marvelously effective. Citizen Kane is told through flashbacks, each time starting with an interview between a reporter trying to figure out the mystery of Kane's final word, and someone who knew Kane personally. Right off the bat, we see this person and automatically know that they were in someway changed by Kane in their lives, a lot of the time for worse instead of better. It compels you in with each new scene, then takes you on a ride through Kane's psyche and how they acted around certain individuals.
    Citizen Kane is a complex, thoughtful story, through and through. It has gothic, beautifully grim camerawork, an involving style of storytelling with perfect timing and no excess material in sight, and a complex character at it's center, bought to life impeccably by Welles. And that's probably why people are sick of hearing that it's the best film of all time, and it is the safe choice for a favorite film. Because the films that we want to be our favorites and the ones that we want other people to pick as favorites, are the flawed movies. Every other movie I mention on this list is blemished in some way, and that might be part of why it's on here. People connect to the perfectly imperfect, it feels more humanized, more compassionate. And Citizen Kane is just too damn perfected for that.

Tomorrow: The professional military guys attack with guns blazing wildly, and still, the death count is just as bad as the last time around.