Citizen Kane - The Review

Emily: Really Charles, people will think-
Kane: -what I tell them to think!

Unfortunately if you told us to give this movie a *****/*****, that wouldn't work Mr. Kane, and for a good reason too.

The movie "Citizen Kane" is one man's quest to ascertain the meaning of the newspaper god, Charles Foster Kane's, last word. "Rosebud". Just what is Rosebud? Watch the last 5 seconds of the movie to find out. Anyways, the movie is basically a visual biography of Kane's life, with intermissions following the adventure of a reporter trying to find out what Rosebud is. The parts about Kane's life skip around quite a  bit, sometimes leaving you dizzy, but you get snapped back to reality when you start to dream that the movie is amazing, only to remember that it is an adequate production. Which brings us back to the fact that the movie was filmed in black and white. It was done so to enunciate the drama, and the lighting in the movie, which we must agree, has done its part. Maybe CFK wanted it black and white because of the whole "gagged with a silver spoon" incident.

Speaking of good lighting/drama, the music is fitted well onto each scene, making spooky noises when showing the castle of Xanadu, and playing a fluttery tune to Kane getting laughed at by Susan when he gets drenched in "mud". The main actor (who was also the director apparently) did an astounding job, portraying a man who has experienced many hardships throughout his life. The actor playing Jed Leland also made a good impression with his laughable attitude as a young editor, and as a senile old man. The actors themselves, however, could not have helped the plot that was written out for the movie. It was decent at best, but it was slow, and didn't capture our attention. In the end, we were utterly disappointed with where the movie had dropped us off, especially after such a ride.

***Pros***
Good acting
Lighting complimented by black and white
Fitting music
Deep plot

***Cons***
Slow moving
Black and white takes away from overall experience
Plot is deep, yet hard to follow
Actors speak rapidly, sometimes illegible

***Overall***

   ***/*****