Seminar paper: Citizen Kane

Orson Welles ‘Citizen Kane’ was released in 1941 and from many critics has been described as one of the greatest films to date. In an article from the ‘News and property cinema’ published the same year 1941. One critic wrote ‘The story of a newspaper genius, an egotist who had everything the world had to offer, it compels attention and admiration through its vital camera work, scarifying dialogue, blunt realism, freedom from sentimentality, unique technical treatment and flawless portrayals’. The film has had a major impact on many people and therefore so many have discussed and written about it. The film is a success and shows true originality through the development of imaginative themes. With the use of these themes it allows to build an image of the character of ‘Kane’, the audience are shown his power and his falls due to his weaknesses which are discovered throughout the film. Welles expressed that he tried to use techniques to create the sense of ‘realism’. Although his attempt was more of an experiment it worked and it made the audience more aware of what was appearing on the screen, and therefore the audience can interoperate or identify with the film in their own way.

The main story line of ‘Citizen Kane’ is the story of Kane’s life and his experiences told through the people that knew him. A reporter aims to find out what Kane’s last word ‘rosebud’ meant before he died, which is seen in the opening moments of the film. As the reporters meets those who were important to Kane through his life he gains a better understanding of who Kane really was, although he does not discover what ‘Rosebud’ means it allows the audience to discover a meaning for themselves.

A few themes appear strong in the film. Love is the most present in the film and how Kane wants everyone to love him which can link to the theme of loss, as he may have felt that the need of love was due to the lack of childhood he had.

It had been rumoured for sometime after the film was released that Welles had based his character of ‘Kane’ on William Randolph Hearst a newspaper tycoon who was still alive at the time of the film. However Welles completely denied ever basing his character on ‘Hearst’ and stated that the character of Kane was a typical person of the first half of the twentieth century and also based on many different icons through history but not ‘Hearst’. However it would seem that there are a few similarities between the character of ‘Kane’ and William Hearst. Like Kane, Hearst became a powerful newspaper man and inherited a fortune of money. Hearst was famous for developing a new style of journalism. Both Kane and Hearst show failures in politics, Hearst tried to stand for mayor of New York however failed similarly Kane failed as an election candidate. A final similarity to the two men is that they both lived in magnificent homes. In the film Kane creates his home, his fantasy castle which he calls Xanadu. Just like Kane, Hearst lived in a huge palace.

The film can be taken to have many interpretations and it may be true or false that the character of Kane had been based on William Hearst however some critics and close friends of Welles state that the ‘Unhappy’ character of Kane shows characteristics of Orson Welles himself.