Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Media:	DVD
Directed by:	Orson Welles
Starring:	Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten
Release date:	24 September, 2002
List price:	~~$26.99~~
Our price:	$19.23 that is 29% off!

Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Average rating: Stars

The Great American Film

Carrying the assumed title of "The Greatest American Film" is a tall order. Not only does it set the bar pretty darn high but it also challenges viewers (who feel BREAKIN'2:ELECTRIC BUGALOO deserves the title) to look to dislike it, or totally avoid it. To be objective, the film is only a very good film today as it is separated from the era of William Randolph Hearst. But, with knowledge of Hearst's dominion, CITIZEN KANE (a veiled expose of Hearst)is escalated.

This stunning DVD set does wonders in linking today's viewer with that world. It includes an intriguing 2 hour documentary, 1995s THE BATTLE OVER CITIZEN KANE. Additionally a fun, incisive audio commentary by film critic Roger Ebert and another dry, redundant commentary by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich. The film transfer is stunningly clear, giving the wonderful scenic design, lighting and sharp focus its due. The audio track is also a great transfer, nicely showing off Bernard Herrmann's musical scoring.

24 year old Director/Star Orson Welles capitalizes his knowledge of theatre and radio (and lack of knowledge of movies) to take risks at every turn. The seamless scene transitions, low-angle cinematography and broad matte paintings are the stuff of legend. Each and every shot composition has the care of the greatest animated features. Worth multiple viewings, this is one for your collection. But, it can't be the greatest film ever... that still belongs to BREAKIN' 2:ELECTRIC BUGALOO! ;)

Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) - Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten

The inevitable downfall of Charles Foster Kane

The short judgment I have on Citizen Kane is that it's a grand masterpiece. It lives up to reputation. Many are the souls of the cinema, surely, who have joyfully hailed it through the years as simply the best movie ever made (e. g. The British Journal "Sight and Sound,"1982; American Film Institute Top 100, June 16, 1998 has it both as NR. 1). They are not wrong, they are not wrong...

That might of course be because of the glowing originality, or the splendor it shows in it's composition, the techniques it deploys, the bald and ferocious statement it ultimately makes on American and Western culture. There could be many things in there that causes the praise. I primarily go for the substance and the statement it makes while focusing in on Charles Foster Kane's decaying life, more so than the technical aspects.

There have certainly been many other precious movies to appraise, Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, Annie Hall, The Time of the Gypsies, Short Cuts, Apocalypse Now, Godfather, Pulp Fiction, The Bicycle Thief, Nostalgia, and many others. Notwithstanding these great films I can't deny the fact that Citizen Kane has the staying power and a tremendous impact. To me it comes through most of all as the awesome comment on the cultural life of Western societies, built by greed for money, where newspapers and other mass media supposedly are controlling our lives. The blind faith we also might give those at the pulpits -- the politicians -- is ruthlessly examined as it quickly erodes. What shows is what remains: false hopes and the tragic void creeping inside of us while only living for "Western" materialism that could never help Charles Foster Kane, of which he was painfully aware.

The crash of course on Wall Street 1929, and the ensuing depression years gives historicity. The years following the crash were depressing years indeed, before Franklin D. Roosevelt began "The New Deal". Equally it did damage to Kane's empire. It's more than anything else though a personal tragedy to witness the inevitable downfall of Charles Foster Kane. First the fall from politics, "caught in love nest with singer". Then fall from marriage of Susan Alexander; the fall from his whole life, eventually left with nothing but a mansion in Xanadu, echoing so clearly the crazy falsity of hopes placed in riches or in comfort of empty materialism. The welth, what will it eventually do for our happiness? Nothing. Then what's it all been worth? You can forget about all the cinematics and the techniques of this picture for a moment while enjoying just the Kane drama.

There really hasn't been a movie quite like it since.

"The Battle over Citizen Kane" gives valuable information and thus accompany the film very well.

Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten - Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition)

A waste of time!

I honestly think if noone can make a film more entertaining than Citizen Kane, we should never waste our time watching any films. The best film ever made!? It's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard in my life. Do they really expect us to believe that every film is worse than this? Oh my god!