Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Yes. Count me in as one of "Them." A Kanenite. Orson Welles's initial motion picture effort, CITIZEN KANE, not only is Welles's best film--it's the best film ever made. Because of the story? Well, that's certainly interesting enough in its own right, but it's not the reason this powerful film is the best ever captured on celluloid. Look, any film that spawns books, documentaries, commentaries, and makes countless "Best Films of All Time" lists has got something unique and magical going for it. So what is it? To explore this topic, I highly recommend you get this TWO-DISC SPECIAL EDITION of CITIZEN KANE.

Made in 1941, when Welles was a mere twenty-five, CITIZEN KANE was light years ahead of its time in production, imagery, lighting, sets--unparalleled cinematography. Easily one of the most creative and innovative of all films, CITIZEN KANE is a haunting presentation of moving camera shots (often through what are supposed to be inanimate objects), of rooms with low ceilings made of cloth (for lighting purposes, plus the cloth easily hid the boom mikes), of scene lighting contrasts where one character is in light, the other in total silhouette, of scenes shot entirely by a below-ground-level camera, of surreal close-ups, of a despondent Kane walking across the screen, his reflection captured in hundreds of mirrors. All of the visual tricks and optical illusions serve to enhance and symbolize the story of Charles Foster Kane, a newspaper tycoon so extravagant and outrageous in his efforts to attract acceptance and love he ultimately garners neither--and loses everything, especially a connection to his childhood. ("Rosebud.") That Welles was making a thinly-disguised biography of mogul William Randolph Hearst was lost on no one, especially Hearst, who made so much trouble with RKO Studios the film was quickly shelved, and didn't find an appreciative audience until years later.

While this special edition contains several extras, you must view movie critic Roger Ebert's commentary. Ebert, an unabashed and enthusiastic student and fan of CITIZEN KANE, is a wealth of information about all the scenes and their background history, about all the tricks and gimmicks and optical illusions Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland (the real star of this movie) dreamed up to make watching this film so mesmerizing. For supporting actors, Welles brought over his Mercury Theater radio performers, who all made their screen debuts here, including Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore (playing a very shrill and petulant second wife), Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick, Everett Sloane, and William Alland (a longtime Welles assistant). On disc two you'll find the documentary "The Battle Over Citizen Kane," a 1996 PBS production; it explores the lives of Hearst, Welles, and the controversy surrounding the production of CITIZEN KANE in meticulous and fascinating detail. The delicious irony here, in the film and in all of the extra features, is that not only is CITIZEN KANE the portrayal of William Randolph Hearst--it is also a thorough examination of the personality of Orson Welles himself. Best movie ever? A resounding yes.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

Orson Welles. Man in his early twenties and never in a movie wrote and stard in
this hit movie.He plays a young man running a news paper to a middle aged Man running for office to his downfall until death.He ages beautiflly in the movie
which is part Drama and part Comedy.A must see movie.
The real William Randolf Hearst tried to buy the Film to destroy it but he failed
and the movie became a #1 hit.He also tried to destroy Orson Welles.

Oh my Lord is this a stupid movie. First of all it's in black and white. Already I'm snoring. Second its about some rich guy whose unhappy. More commie-lib "bash the rich" nonsense from (where else?) Hollyweird. OK, I'm watching this movie and the plot is that their trying to find out why this rich guy Kane said "Rosebud" when he died. And guess what it means? (SPOILER ALERT) It's a FREAKIN' SLEDD!!!!! Which they burn up at the end. Dumb Dumb! DUMB! If I ruined the movie for you, GOOD. You can spend that money on a cooler movie. What a lame pile of garbage and waste of my time.

It can be difficult to watch a "classic" film like this because of all the baggage that comes along with it. It's a challenge to stay unbiased. Almost like when a trial has to be moved because all the potential jurors have already been influenced. Citizen Kane certainly falls in this camp. After all, it is perennially ranked #1 (AFI, Sight & Sound, etc.) and thus there is an *expectation* that it will be one of the best.

It might well be other people's favorite film, but I cannot say the same. It was very good, and I will surely watch it again (I've already watched it twice on this nice new DVD). But I can think of several movies I like better, including Casablanca which came out a year later.

Funny enough, I see more of a parallel between Charles Foster Kane and Orson Welles (later in life) than I do between Kane and William Randolph Hearst. In the end I think the film is a technical masterpiece and kudos to Welles, who of course also directed and produced. But in my opinion, he was better in Touch of Evil (1958).

I think honestly this is a three-and-a-half star movie and I should probably round up because of all the great extras on this release.

Well, the second disc, I didn't really care for, the story behind the making of Citizen Kane, even though I've read about it before. The actual film itself, is one of the best films ever made. Welles and company were so innovated for the times, and even now with today's standards of film making, the cinematography, lighting and editing really shine through, but it's the structure of the film that is really interesting, the way the story is told, not in linear format, the many layers of the story and seeing Welles as Kane age before our eyes, really adds to the depth of the character and story as well.