"Citizen Kane" (Orson Welles, 1940)

Paper Summary:

The paper examines how the film reflects a sense of the history of the U.S. in the first four decades of the 20th Century. It looks at the American values embodied in the title character, Charles Foster Kane. The paper also discusses the synthesis of techniques used in the film, including German expressionism and spatial relations, which contributed to the film's originality.

From the Paper:

"This is an ambitious film. Its subject is not just the life of one man but the development of American society, politics, business, and journalism over the course of the century from around 1890 to 1940. The film is highly successful at both its main endeavors--making the wealthy and powerful Kane into a human figure standing as a sort of American tragedy, and giving a sense of how American history flowed through the media as the latter became more important in this century. For Kane, owning a newspaper starts as something he thinks would be fun and becomes a means to attain and consolidate power. He tries politics himself but is driven away when his own peccadilloes are about to be revealed, then he uses the paper to make and break others in politics as in other realms of business and social life."

More papers on "Citizen Kane" (Orson Welles, 1940):

• Film Review # 105305 : "Citizen Kane"
• Essay # 17621 : "Citizen Kane ( Orson Welles )"
• Film Review # 101374 : "Orson Welles: His Art as it Manifests itself in "Citizen Kane"

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