Orson Welles Citizen Kane: The Great American Dream
Orson Welles’ 1941 film noir Citizen Kane is an exploration of human condition and the effects on those who are closest to him through his pursuit of the Great American Dream. This is achieved by depicting widely upon the quest for happiness. He extends the life story of William Randolph Hearst, a non-fictional media tycoon and characterises Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) to imitate his life. The corrupting nature of power and wealth, unreliability of memory and isolation versus interventionalism are some of the universal concepts that Welles explores by crafting his feature film.
Individuals in the society have faith in media thus they delegate their power so that they ACCURATELY inform them about events, incidents and news. Ironically,
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In Citizen Kane, Welles characterises Kane as a wealthy and known newspaper mogul. However, despite his excess wealth, the audience is positioned to see Kane die lonely and isolated. Kane’s diminishing reflection in the mirrors when Susan leaves him. this imitates the character’s own loneliness and emptiness despite being the prime example of an individual who has successfully achieved the Great American Dream. This visually symbolises the trap in the flawed ethos of the dream. By doing so, he positions the audience to understand how economic fortunes eventually does not provide happiness. Furthermore, the emptiness and delusion in Kane’s private life is evident through the non-sequential flashbacks portray Kane’s disjointed life. A life where no two ends meet and everything seems to be in tatters. Thus the use of cuts, slow dissolves and flashbacks effectively convey both Kane’s public and private life. The public life is representative of the Great American Dream and the private life represents the isolation which an individual experience as a result of the dream. According to critic Roger Ebert 1998, “Rosebud is the emblem of the security, hope and innocence of childhood, which a man can spend his life seeking to regain.” By viewing the film, we as the audience are able to understand that happiness of childhood cannot be gained through
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Macbeth And Citizen Kane Comparison
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The Braindead Megaphone Analysis
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Essay On Moral Panic
949 Words | 4 PagesThe Media and The Manufacture of Deviance 800 words, Assessment Weighting 30% Briefly define the concept of ‘moral panic’ Cohen argues the concept of moral panic is a person or group that becomes defined as a threat to society to a person’s social value and their interests. Moral panic is fear that comes from a group or issue that causes panic within society, but it’s believed this fear and reaction is exaggerated and this is felt and reacted to by the public forms of media such as newspapers, articles and live news etc; knife crime and islamophobia. “Implicit in the use of two words moral panic is the suggestion that the threat is to something held sacred by or fundamental to the society” (Thompson, Kenneth 1998) Cohens definition of moral panic is an over exaggerated reaction by groups
How Did Citizen Kane Change
717 Words | 3 PagesThe Film Citizen Kane was a groundbreaking film in the 1940’s, the way Orson Wells depicts his film with different lighting, cinematography, choice of camera shots and mise-en-scene throughout this movie truly showed the masterpiece that this film is. In the Film Citizen Kane, it was the first movie that went against true Hollywood cinema by introducing flashbacks throughout the movie to show us how Charles Foster Kane changes throughout the movie. Throughout this movie the audience can see how Charles Foster Kane undergoes a variety of physical and emotional changes from when he was just a young boy all the way until his unfortunate death. Power, that’s all that Kane wanted in the start of the film. In the beginning of the film Kane gets ownership of the struggling New York Daily Inquirer, Kane suggests that he wanted to use journalism to apply to the public and protect the interest of ordinary people.
Moral Dilemmas In Marshall Will Kane's Film High Noon
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Once Upon A Time In America Movie Analysis
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Charles Foster Kane And The American Dream
1366 Words | 6 Pages(Citizen Kane, 1941) Kane’s parents used the power of money as an accessory for giving him away to a billionaire. Since that day, the protagonist went through a traumatizing experience, insecurity and redisposition due to his parents’ actions, which marked the beginning of his tortuous need, to be loved. This unreturned love created a sense of fear and mistrust to love something or someone, only to experience abandonment again was something Kane never got a chance to learn. Citizen Kane broke all the rules because of Welles, there were no
Citizen Kane Opening Scene Analysis
1571 Words | 7 PagesDirected by Orson Welles, the 1941 motion picture “Citizen Kane” is the story of the rise and fall of a great, influential man. The opening scenes of “Citizen Kane” are quite different from what follows during the rest of the film. Fading in and out of different landscapes instilled mystery. This mysterious vibe was carried on during Charles Foster Kane’s death through the use of shadows, quiet music, and close up shots. Isolated in his vast empire of a home, Kane uttered only one word before he passed: “rosebud.”
Citizen Kane: Classic Hollywood Film
510 Words | 3 PagesCitizen Kane challenged the traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema mainly in the area of sound. Orson Welles was ahead of his time when he created his works of manipulating sound to transfer meaning in the film Citizen Kane. Welles used concealed hanging microphones to obtain different levels of sound throughout the film. The manner, in which the story was told, from Kane’s death flashbacked to his life of success and ultimate failure, was also a new style of storytelling for films. Welles also used symbolism with his last mumbling word “Rosebud.”
Citizen Kane's Citizen Kane: The Classic Hollywood Industry
389 Words | 2 PagesThere are many things that make “Citizen Kane” considered as possibly one of the greatest films every made; to the eyes of the passive audience this film may not seem the most amazing, most people being accustomed to the classical Hollywood style, but to the audience with an eye for the complex, “Citizen Kane” breaks the traditional Hollywood mold and forges its own path for the better. Exposition is one of the most key features of a film, it’s meant introduce important characters and give the audience relevant details and and dutifully suppress knowledge in turn. “Citizen Kane” does not follow this Classic Hollywood style exposition, instead going above and beyond to open the film with revealing as little information as possible and confuse/intrigue
Citizen Kane: A Cinematic Classic Hollywood Cinema
585 Words | 3 PagesCitizen Kane by Orson Welles is a cinematic classic, released in 1941. Citizen Kane challenged traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema. Kane was narrated by several people that include their take on Kane’s life. The story unfolds by many flashbacks and is told by different perspectives over the years through different narrations. Charles Foster Kane was a millionaire, head of newspapers and died saying “rosebud”.
Citizen Kane Mise En Scene Analysis
794 Words | 4 PagesCitizen Kane (Welles, 1941) challenged traditional narrative and technical elements of classic Hollywood cinema through techniques in cinematography, mise-en-scene and lighting. The mise-en-scene build of Citizen Kane is the pivoting point of the narrative forthcoming and Welles uses every technical element encompassed in this build to span his narrative across 60 years of Charles Foster Kane, the main character 's life. The beginning of this build is founded on the black and white shooting choice which sets an ominous almost 'film noir ' lighting and feel of the opening scene of the castle in Xanadu. This where we see end of Kane 's life, but every aspect of the film 's narrative will revolve around these frames and including the questions of 'who has died '?, 'what was the significance of the snow globe? ', and 'Who is rosebud? '. The camera angle in the deathbed scene is deliberately shot from a low angle, which further implies the importance of the person lying in the bed as well as providing mystery as the viewer is not yet privy to whom has just
Shot Analysis: Citizen Kane
1038 Words | 5 PagesShot Analysis: Citizen Kane Orson Welles, director of “Citizen Kane”, is well known for his unusual directing methods that defied conventional cinematic techniques. Welles provided his audience with original forms of cinematography, narrative structures, and music. The scene I chose to analyze is extremely important to the plot of the film because Kane begins to realize that he is going through some serious financial problems. During the scene, Kane maintains a sarcastic mood, until he finally decides to surrender and signs the papers that transfer the ownership of his media empire to Mr. Thatcher.
Rashomon And Citizen Kane Analysis
2098 Words | 9 PagesTwo films, although created years apart yet have a lot in common, including their content of it’s narrative techniques. Both films, even though black and white with strokes of genius of cinema offer a vast stretch for study. I will be looking at Sir Orson Welles “Citizen Kane” (1941) and Akira Kurosawa’s “Rashomon” (1950). We see in Citizen Kane he values for the American life. The three abstract themes that constantly follow through Citizen Kane are Wealth, Power and Love.
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