No.2 and lives up to the hype.
If you see it through the correct lens, you are a 1941 audience member; this film lives up to the hype. In this life, some extraordinary people do extraordinary things, and Orson Welles pulling off Citizen Kane, alongside his fantastic Director of Photography Gregg Toland, is one of cinema’s greatest achievements. Of course, I am not the first to think or say this, but I felt I had to get that out of my system before continuing.
I learnt a lot from watching this properly for the first time. At university, I did an essay or an exam (I can’t remember which) on Citizen Kane, but by the time I got around to studying for it, there wasn’t enough time to sit and watch the movie, so I read about it as much as I could, so counterintuitive I know. Having finally watched it now, I’d like to document that the use of deep focus in this film is spectacular and has really inspired me.
There is a moment when Charles Foster Kane’s mother is signing a document to give her son away to have a better life, and the composition is like a painting. Charles is in the background (seen through the window), playing in the snow, whilst his mother and lawyer are in the foreground. All are in focus, and it tells a much richer story than if there had been many cuts to show the scene's geography. So much more is conveyed. This is not just something that stood out to me and its continued use throughout the film, but it is also something the film is famous for making famous. This is the key to understanding Citizen Kane and why you need to watch it through the appropriate lens to appreciate it fully. Many of the techniques used are now commonplace in modern cinema, so it doesn’t appear to be much different; however, without it, films would look a lot different and suffer in quality as a result.
Another lesson I took from this film was how effectively it used the ‘floating camera effect’. I’m not sure what the technical term would be, but the sequence leading to the introduction of Charles Foster Kane’s second wife is excellent. So much is told to the audience about this woman before we even meet her. It would be a disservice to describe it, so I suggest that the two of you reading this go and find the moment.
I’ve not said anything new about this timeless film, but I’m so grateful to have finally watched it properly. It’s worth its hype as a masterpiece.
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