Citizen Kane - Story

Orson Welles' 1941 film à clef drama, Citizen Kane, considered by many to be one of, if not, the best films ever made, broke the mold of the classical paradigm which dominated Hollywood at the time. Not only did the storyline abandon the, beginning-middle-end norm (the film is broken up by non-linear flashbacks), Welles had almost complete control over the films making. He wrote (along with Herman Mankiewicz), directed, produced, and starred in the film. He used new lighting and camera techniques, including deep focus and panning through objects. He also had the set completely closed, even to movie executives, during the production of the film.

The story revolves around the mysterious utterance of Kane’s final word, “Rosebud,” and the search to the meaning of it. Jerry Thompson a reporter with News on the March is tasked with finding out all he can about “Rosebud.” He sets out to talk to those close to Charles Foster Kane. The film is told by Thompson through the flashbacks of Walter Thatcher (Kane’s legal guardian), Mr. Bernstein (Kane’s friend/employee), Jedediah Leland (Kane’s best friend/reporter), Susan Alexander Kane (Kane’s mistress and second wife), and Raymond (Kane’s butler). Despite all of the stories Thompson collects, he is not able to find much about Kane or what “Rosebud” truly means. It’s “just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle.”

In the social context of the film, we learn that being "gagged on a silver spoon," does not guarantee happiness. Throughout the film we are able to surmise that Kane, despite all of his success, was a very lonely man in search of filling a void in his life, something he lost long ago, and he bought countless objects to try and fill that void. The film is timeless in the sense that everyone has something they reflect on. There always seems to be something from our past that we yearn for, whether it’s our mothers love, making the ultimate sacrifice or an object long since lost.