Citizen Kane has been regarded as one of the best films ever made in film history. Directed and led by Orson Welles, the film was loosely inspired by American newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It can be questioned as to why a black-and-white film from 1941 stands tall among movies like The Godfather, but when you strip away the old-fashioned exterior of the film, Citizen Kane feels strikingly modern, exploring the idea of the loneliness that comes with power and wealth.
The story of Charles Foster Kane is framed as a mystery centered around his last words. On his deathbed in his enormous estate Xanadu, the newspaper tycoon mutters the word “Rosebud”. To uncover the meaning, reporters interview all the people who knew Kane the best. The interviews piece together a portrait of Kane’s life: a child ripped away from his family, a ruthless businessman, a charismatic manipulator, and finally, a lonely old man at his tremendous estate. This fragmented style of storytelling was revolutionary at the time, offering the audience a unique view of the complex and layered nature of Charles Foster Kane.
The themes in Citizen Kane continue to resonate with people today because of our views on public figures. In the present, public figures are constantly being dissected by the media, where each appearance, tweet, or post adds to the puzzle of what kind of person someone “really” is. The film becomes a mirror for people’s obsession with constructing and deconstructing powerful figures. We the people want to not only know what they do but what drives them — what their “Rosebud” is. But like the journalists in the movie, we might never find the right answer.
Citizen Kane was decades ahead of its time in terms of camerawork and photography. Orson Welles and the film’s cinematographer Gregg Toland employed “deep focus” photographic technique, where both the foreground and background are equally in focus, for visually striking scenes. The best example of this is when young Kane is playing in the snow while his parents are in the house discussing his future. Simultaneously, the camera moves backward from the boy to his parents, reminding us that what we are seeing isn’t just storytelling but underlying commentary reinforcing the main themes of loss and control.
Beyond the technical achievements of this almost 80-year-old movie, Citizen Kane is emotionally devastating. At the heart of the movie is a man trying to fill the void of a lost childhood with money, power, and fame. As his newspapers become an empire, Kane buys extravagant statues, constructs Xanadu, and controls public opinion, all while failing to buy love or loyalty. His last word, “Rosebud”, reveals not a secret person in his life but the longing for the simplicity of childhood: the sled he left behind when he left his home for the last time. The irony is painful. After chasing bigger and bigger things, at the end of Kane’s life, all he wanted was for something small, innocent, and nostalgic. The tragedy lies in Kane’s loss of control over his sanity and happiness as he attempts to manipulate his image and the world.
So, why should Citizen Kane matter to the modern audience who have grown up watching Avengers, Fast and Furious, and other action-packed movies? Because it’s not just a movie about a man with money and power, but about us. It forces us to ask ourselves why we are so involved in other people’s lives, how power distorts identity, and how the things that we chase may not be what we want at the end of our lives. Citizen Kane makes us look inward and wonder what our “Rosebud” might be and if we are in danger of losing it in pursuit of all else.
