Citizen Kane is a film à clef, one that presents a portrait, that premiered in 1941

starring Orson Welles in his first feature film as a triple threat: director, lead actor and
producer. The film opened to unanimous critical praise, controversy in the media and
unhindered reception from the public. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote in
1941, “…it can safely be stated that suppression of this film would have been a crime…
Citizen Kane is far and away the most surprising and cinematically exciting motion picture
to be seen here in many a moon. As a matter of fact, it comes close to being the most
sensational film ever made in Hollywood.” Orson Welles’ investigative plot, dynamic and
alluding characters, experimental innovations in lighting, editing and sound, and cinematic
techniques all uphold Mr. Crowther’s bold and honorable claim.
Orson Welles stars in his own movie as the main character, Charles Foster Kane, an
enormously wealthy media proprietor whose career in the publishing world grew from an
idealistic social service to a ruthless pursuit of power and fortune. Although Kane was born
into poverty, his mother acquired a land that happened to contain the “world’s third largest
gold mine”. As a result, Kane is sent away to live with Walter Parks Thatcher to be
educated. At the age of 25, Kane now controls his assets and decides to go daringly down
the path of yellow journalism and gets his first taste of notoriety when he takes ownership
of the New York Inquirer. After two marriages, a failed political career and amassed riches,
Kane spends the last days of his life secluded in his estate, Xanadu. The personal, political
and financial tale of Kane is told in a series of investigations set out by the reporter, Jerry
Thompson. Thompson immerses himself into Kane’s life for reason and one reason only: to
uncover the mystery and meaning behind Kane’s last utterance, “Rosebud.” He speaks with
Kane’s second wife, Susan Alexander, Kane’s personal business manager, Mr. Bernstein,
Kane’s best friend, Jedediah Leland, and Kane’s butler, Raymond. Thompson also sorts
through the private archive and estate of Thatcher, Kane’s former guardian. These
investigations are presented as flashbacks through the memories and second hand
accounts of the unreliable perspectives that brings out contradictions, non-sequential plot
points and an overall, enigmatic portrait. Kane’s story is that of an epic tragedy- a “rags to
riches” story that ends in egotistical logic, affairs of the heart and unhappiness because of
the lust to fulfill the American dream.
Before its premier May 1, 1941, Citizen Kane provoked controversy because the film
seemed to depict a fictionalized and caricaturized portrayal of the life of the prominent
publishing and newspaper tycoon, William Randolph Hearst. Although this is speculation
the rumors and accusations spun wildly from the parallels between Kane and Hearst.
Foremost, both are extravagantly wealthy leaders in publishing with control over a
newspaper. Both employed the use of yellow journalism, a technique that sensationalized
news stories, making them “headliners.” Each owned a palatial estate, sought after a
political seat, had extramarital relations and gave excessive patronage to the women in
their life. Lastly, akin to Kane’s relationship with Thatcher, the financier, J.P. Morgan,
mentored Hearst. While Welles has never divulged if Hearst was his muse for Citizen Kane
the film was viewed by critics and the public as a parody of Hearst’s life. With this
perception has come backlash from the Hearst side- David Nasaw, a Hearst biographer,
states that Kane’s withering state is due to the fact that he “…cannot command the total
obedience, loyalty, devotion and love of those around him. Hearst to the contrary…never
recognized defeat…” (Dirks)
 Arguably the most groundbreaking piece of the Citizen Kane spectrum is Orson
Welles’ inventive uses with regards to light, sound/music and editing. Welles channels the
chiaroscuro style of artists through backlighting and high contrast lighting in order to make
distinctive and dramatic shadows. This bright vs. dark aesthetic is a precursor to the future
film noirs. Welles produced an extremely layered and complex soundtrack that includes
reverberation to set a mood, unusual orchestral combinations and continuity of sound. This
continuous soundtrack is called a “lightning mix”. This is used when Kane’s guardian
wishes him a “Merry Christmas” during his childhood and is then completed by “and a
Happy New Year” in his adulthood. The continuous soundtrack links the images together to
create an effortless narrative structure. Citizen Kane is filled with a musical score that
highlight the action and enhance the reaction of the audience. Welles also utilizes splicing
in order to create an edited illusion. Using several voices, all saying different phrases,
Welles spliced the dialogue in succession and layers in order to give the expression of a
large group or in this case, a whole town is talking. The film is also filled to the brim with
what is known as “J-cuts”; this occurs when the audio precedes the visuals. As a scene
comes to a close, the audio for the next scene would transition in before the visuals.
Along with being substantially thick with plot, visuals and acclaim, Citizen Kane also
rendered the use of brilliant and creative cinematography. Throughout the film, the camera
remains subjective to the point of view through which Kane’s life is being explained or
narrated. This subjectivity ties into Welles’ sensitivity to storytelling and is paired with
flashbacks and flash-forwards, overlapping perspectives and the wary unreliable source
that is often found in literature. Welles was noted in explaining, “Id been nursing an old
notion-the idea of telling the same thing several times-and showing exactly the same thing
from wholly different views.” (Dirks) This strategy reminds me of Pete Travis’ 2008 film,
Vantage Point. Welles’ uses montage to collapse time and space to create a flow from one
time to another in the same location; this can be seen during the breakfast scene at which
Kane’s collapsing marriage is laid out over time. I also found the newsreel depicting Kane’s
life to be one of the most entertaining aspects of the plot. This film within a film was
authoritative, thrilling and offered a compelling and detailed look into Kane’s life. It could
have been a real news clip- it was sensationalized and extremely authentic. It covered
everything from Xanadu’s opulence to the intimate details of Kane’s life.