Why do people love Citizen Kane?

[Infernai]

Because it has that ever so famous Cane!

....Wait a minute, there's no cane in citizen cane!

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

When people say best, they mean it's one of the most important movies ever made.

You should look at a list of things that were invented for Citizen Kane. The Christmas scenes where the music starts in one and bridges to the other? Citizen Kane was the first one to do that. Deep focus? Citizen Kane was the first major film to do that.

It seems pretty unimpressive now mostly because it changed film so profoundly that every film since then has been using the same techniques.

 

[Nukey]

It invented most of the techniques used in modern cinema, effectively revolutionizing the industry.

It's also a pretty good movie on its own merits.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

--

 

[DarkRyter]

"I still can't believe you haven't seen Cujo. What is wrong with you?"
"Relax, it's not like it's Citizen Kane."
"Have you ever tried to sit through Citizen Kane?"
"Yeah, I know, it's really boring, but it's like a big deal."

I believe Joey and Rachel sum up the general public's view on Citizen Kane.

 

[The Rockerfly]

snip

Great avatar, brah.

Thank you kindly

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Didn't the Space Monkeys cut his balls off on a bus? Then he came back to stop them from detonating their bomb even at the cost of his life knowing that them and Tyler would murder him to achieve their goals? He ended up holding himself at gunpoint before finally getting absolving his split personality and deciding to commit sucicide?

Or did he...remembering what was actually happening? Tyler survives in both.

Unless you mean how Tyler Durden himself gave into the Narrator after he was mentally overpowered and decieved, which I wouldn't say is acceptance.

It is compared to what happened in the book, where Tyler was hospitalized due to his internal struggle.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

to clear up the Clockwork Orange argument. The movie was based on the version of the book published in America which for whatever reason did not include the last chapter that was included in the British publication. Kubric read the American book and based the movie on that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange#Omission_of_the_final_chapter

Kubrick was aware of the last chapter, he just decided not to use it.

One of Kubrick's "auter" visions was to give the audience a character arc, but he did so often by ignoring the main protagonist's arc. This made the film more emotionally contesting but weaker overall.

 

[Spade Lead]

The movie is not about the twist. Stop thinking about the twist or Rosebud. It's just a tool to get things moving. Rosebud is not central to the life of Kane, it was just a part of it. Like the reporter at the end says "A piece of the puzzle".

See Kane's life as a whole, and not just the twist. The interesting part is how at the end of the movie, the viewer, the reporter, the people who were part of Kane's life and Charles Foster Kane himself, find out how little they actually knew about the him. Everyone has their own sort of view of who the man was. Every individual flashback, shines Kane in a different light, some view him as an egotistical man, a ladies man, a cynical, an idealist, a rotten bastard, a sell out a lost soul, etc.

The point of Citizen Kane is, you don't get to know who an individual is based on one act or a moment in his life, but the sum of all his acts and moments define and shape the individual. That's why Rosebud in the end is pointless. The reporter was looking for it's meaning cause he believed that was the key to unlock Charles Foster Kane, but in truth it wasn't. It was just another part of Kane's life. Rosebud didn't shape Kane. It was just his sled, a memory of a long lost life.

There are a lot of other things that make Citizen Kane good, and the greatest movie of all time. It was a movie that changed everything about cinema, since the camera work, the editing, narrative and story. It's not exactly an easy movie to fully understand, I recommend watching the movie with the commentary by Roger Ebert, it gives a whole different perspective on the movie. It also shows that there was a lot of silly stuff in it, like Pterodactyls flying in the background of one scene.(Really)


Edit: Orson Welles did better movies by the way. Touch of Evil, F for Fake and The Trial for instance. Though Citizen Kane was a groundbreaking movie and changed everything. The most recent example of a movie that changes the laws of cinema is There Will Be Blood by PT Anderson.(Which funny enough, is considered the Citizen Kane of the new generation)

And here I was thinking no one got it.

It was a great movie, and I am glad I saw it as the last film in my Introduction to Film class. It was truly revolutionary, and I recognized so many techniques from modern movies that were original and well done in that film. And the Special Effects, Oh my God. They were good by modern standards, and that was back in the day when William Randolf Hearst was trying to get the film killed because it was seen by him as a personal attack. I don't remember the exact numbers, but according to my Film Instructor, over 70% of that movie was special effects, mainly the deep-focus shot. You may not have enjoyed it, but it was a revolutionary film that was technically complex and well executed.

Read the Wiki on it, take a film class, understand how movies are made and what went into that film in particular. Welles had a special control over that film that no other director HAD EVER EXPERIENCED before that film. Had that film failed, truly failed, the movies we go to today would be even more bland and uninspiring than most people on here claim they are.

 

[Spade Lead]

Because it has that ever so famous Cane!

....Wait a minute, there's no cane in citizen cane!

But there is, actually, in the final stages of his life, because when I saw that cane, I almost shit myself thinking "LISA WAS WRONG!"

I can't find images, but when his an old man, he uses a cane.

 

[Ghengis John]

I just can't grasp it.
I saw the film minutes ago, and it wasn't that good. The plot-twist I guessed about 30 minutes befor it was revealed. The cinematography was good, but I saw flaws in it non the less. The acting was meh, not good nor bad.

So how can this be called " the best movie ever made"? I can say without any doubt that Eyes wide shut,A clockwork orange or even Fight Club is better by far!

So can anyone explain the love? (But then agian, maybe I shouldn't complain about love since it's always good ;P)

It was the first movie to do a lot of things. In that, it was quite innovative, in it's day. Your mind has been conditioned by watching thousands of movies that have imitated it, such is the curse of it's success and the impact it made upon the public. You have to look back upon the film with an eye to it's innovations. You saw the twist coming because you have seen it's like before. I suppose to put it another way, imagine how much harder it would be for you to fall prey to the Trojan Horse. We all know the technique and so it would be unlikely to have such an impressive result a second time. Yet if you'd never dreamed of such a thing before the impact would be devastating and would become quite renowned, and deservedly so. Would it not?

 

[Mayonegg]

Welles was a theatrical director, so he brought with him a very stylised look.

The script was the first to use a non-linear narrative, particularly one based on subjective viewpoints of the principal characters (as Rashomon would later).

The acting is good, nothing stellar and the comedy and light moments seem awkward at best.

Mainly I just re-watch certain moments to remind myself how a master does deep-focus photography (just watch the scene of Kane as a child in the cabin again).

 

[SillyBear]

Citizen Kane('41): 100%. No-one, repeat NO-ONE, of the film critic studios gave it less than a stellar review. (Bergman famously called it boring, but his view on things is..interesting)

Lol, what?

Citizen Kane actually got a pretty mixed reception when it came out. Quite a many influential people didn't like it and it infamously lost out on the Oscars.

Oh wait, are you just basing this off Rotten Tomatoes? I see.

 

[Spade Lead]

In the end you get the sense that nobody really knew what type of man Kane was, including possibly Kane himself.

From a Psychology standpoint, I think he might have been Bi-Polar... I know I have mood swings like that some days. And that is just another point in this movies favor. He was such a DYNAMIC character.

 

[docSpitfire]

I think Citizen Kane has lost a lot of it's effect because as time passed it lost it's context, because aside from classes where I learned about Citizen Kane, William Randolph Hearst wasn't ever mentioned in school.

I think if you want to do film school that it retains it's "must view" status because of it's technical brilliance.

 

[Henkie36]

I just can't grasp it.
I saw the film minutes ago, and it wasn't that good. The plot-twist I guessed about 30 minutes befor it was revealed. The cinematography was good, but I saw flaws in it non the less. The acting was meh, not good nor bad.

So how can this be called " the best movie ever made"? I can say without any doubt that Eyes wide shut,A clockwork orange or even Fight Club is better by far!

So can anyone explain the love? (But then agian, maybe I shouldn't complain about love since it's always good ;P)

I think it's more of a ''it was great at the time'' movie, because I doubt that you saw it in movie theaters in 1941 when it was new. I don't know, maybe it'si just one of those movies which has aged well up to a certain point, but that point is now behind us and it was downhill from there on in. I've watched because everyone who likes movies has to watch it at some point, But in the, it didn't feel like anything special. Good, but not amazing. If it had been made today, I doubt whether or not it would be regarded better or worse then The Dark Knight.

 

[Mr Somewhere]

Here's a fun fact people, film, like any other medium, is totally subjective. For example...

You know what was arguably more innovative than Citizen Kane? This:

Yeah.

Also: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/birth_of_a_nation/

Nobody is denying its innovation.

And the new testament is a little different if Jesus isn't nailed to the cross.

The fact is Kubrick knew of the final chapter and chose to ignore it.

So? He felt that it wasnt organic to the plot. Kubrick wasnt some studio director, he was an auteur. If he didnt feel that the scene would work, then why should he have used it?
Complaining that Kubrick wasnt 100 % faithful means nothing, considering he made The Shining. Is The Shining faithful? No. Is it one of the best horror films? Undoubtedly.

I totally disagree with this. The Shining is not only one of Kubrick's weakest film, but I don't even feel it should be considered amongst the best of horror canon. Sure it's lovingly shot, but, do I care about the characters? No, not one iota. The Shining is a terrible adaption which seems to totally miss the point of the novel and fail to make one for itself. The film seems to propagate that loathsome characteristic of modern horror films having anti-characters or just loathsome characters. In the film, what reason have I to care for Jack Torrance? His character is turned into a simple 'drunken Dad'.

The Shining has no place among more affecting, personal horror stories such as Don't Look Now.

 

[Lukeje]

Long story short, is this an attempt at trolling?

Of course. Anyone disagreeing with a popular opinion is always trolling. There's no way someone could actually dislike a movie, after all.

Did you actually read my post, or did you just jump to the word `trolling' and draw your opinions from there?

That said, when a movie adds something for seemingly no reason, it can be a bit disconcerting, but I try to give it a chance, even then. (Clockwork Orange does this apparently, although I've never read the book.)

Clockwork Orange misses something vital out though. Alex repents in the end. He rejoins society.

The film makes him succumb to his darker desires. That totally alters the entire story.

Fight Club also makes Tyler accept his alter-ego rather than struggle with it.

Eyes Wide Shut? Acceptance rather than struggle. That's indicative of the film audience rather than the basis of the books.

Citizen Kane? Struggle right to the end.

It's a better film, imho, because it doesn't take the comforting "heroic" way out. Charles Kane suffers due to his excesses, rather than revels in them - like Alex, Tyler or Bill Harford.

The Picture of Dorian Gray wouldn't be the masterpiece it is without Dorian's decline into madness. Same with Frankenstein, Gone with the Wind, Bladerunner, 2001,Dr Jekkyl and Mr Hyde...

Actually, the narrator in Fight Club suffers because of excesses. At first he was a slave of consumerism, and then he was a slave of anti-establishment.

to clear up the Clockwork Orange argument. The movie was based on the version of the book published in America which for whatever reason did not include the last chapter that was included in the British publication. Kubric read the American book and based the movie on that

Even though I would imagine Kubrick not using the last scene nevertheless.

And the new testament is a little different if Jesus isn't nailed to the cross.

The fact is Kubrick knew of the final chapter and chose to ignore it.

That's not something that's really provable now, is it?

You guessed the plot twist? That doesn't really make any sense.

As regards your other suggestions for best movie, they seem flawed. I can't testify to Fight Club, having not seen it, but Eyes Wide Shut and A Clockwork Orange are regarded as Kubrick's worst works...

Long story short, is this an attempt at trolling? I found the movie fresh and original even though I watched it 60-odd years after it was filmed...

Edit: apparently A Clockwork Orange is considered on a par with the rest of Kubrick's good works. Who knew?

In regards to your edit, what list are you going by?
Really it doesn't matter what some list online says, it's what you think when you watch the films.

I think my original thoughts are evident from the post.

 

[Throwitawaynow]

Read the Wiki on it, take a film class, understand how movies are made and what went into that film in particular.

I watched Citizen Kane for a film class I was taking. I found it really boring. It was extremely hard for me to immerse myself in the movie. Different tastes.

 

[Mr.Tophat]

It is considered the greatest movie ever because every movie you have seen in your whole entire life drew at-least one thing from it.

Citizen Kane revolutionized film making and made it what it is today. That... and it is a DAMN good film.

I'd go into finer detail if I wasn't certain you could find a better explanation than any I could provide with a Google search.