where does one begin with orson welles' debut/magnum opus?
often voted "the greatest film of all time" by publications as far and varied as sight and sound magazine, the american film institute and cahiers du cinema, citizen kane is not only an outstandingly produced piece of cinema, but its incredibly likeable and accessible too. having seen the film countless times over the past decade or so i am constantly surprised by the sheer number of things that i manage to pick up on each fresh viewing. its a pleasure to watch, and so devoid of pretension and the associated fears that i can actually see why such presumptions are made by those who havent actually seen it. at the end of the day the genius of orson welles' film comes down to one unmistakable fact; prior to citizen kane the modern feature film didnt exist.
I've got to be honest, I have only seen this film once and was made to see it for film class. I liked it but I thought it was incredibly over-rated. I mean, it is meant to be THE film. But why? I enjoyed watching it but it's not a film I feel compelled to watch over and over and I think there are many films more worthy of the status this film holds (although I can't think of any examples right now. This takes a great deal of thought...)
ReplyDeletei think its much better a film when viewed outside of education, as are most. for me there is just something so incredibly modern about the film, it still holds up today, but at the same time created a lot of the cinematic devices that we hold as standard today, so its kinda a double edged compliment. im surprised you didnt find it as accessible and overtly enjoyable, but i guess a lot of people feel that way about it.
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