Director: Orson Welles
Screenplay: Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Everett Sloane, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Stewart, Ruth Warwick, Erskine Sanford, William Alland
Running Time: 117 minutes
Genre: Drama
Following the death of controversial tycoon, Charles Foster Kane (Welles), one of the richest and most famous men in America, newsreel reporter Thompson (Alland) is sent to get a fresh angle on Kane's life by investigating the meaning of his last word, "Rosebud." As he interviews those who knew and worked with Kane, Thompson builds a picture of his life from his poor childhood in rural Colorado, to his foundation of a huge newspaper empire, to his political ambitions, and troubled private life.
This was the first film of legendary actor, writer, producer and director Orson Welles, who had already made a splash with his Mercury Theater company, and his notorious radio production of The War of the Worlds. It was a very experimental film for the time, with it's non-linear structure, unconventional camera angles, and pseudo-documentary sequences. Famously it often tops polls as the best film ever made, while I am not sure if it is or not, it is a personal favourite of mine, and it is certainly a great film. It offers much, but reveals little. The great writer Jorge Luis Borges described Citizen Kane as "a labyrinth without a centre", and it is an entrancing puzzle. It's mysteries, even when revealed, seem to lead to yet more mysteries. Ultimately we end where we begin, outside, the forbidding gates of Xanadu. The film is a technical marvel, and full of images that have become iconic. The complex, literate script is beautifully written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, and the performances are very impressive all round. The film pretty much disappeared on release, thanks in no small part to real-life newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who was enraged by the film, believing that Welles was having a go at him, and he tried to ensure the film was buried. Fortunately Hearst failed, and this dazzling film could be reappraised as the masterpiece it is.
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