We watched Citizen Kane last night and one of us still hasn’t seen it

You’re reading “Life in Colour”. One woman’s blog challenge to watch the 100 greatest films of all time.

Chalk it up. Wolf and I have completed our first movie of the challenge (well, technicalities aside. We’ll get in to that later). Do I look like a new woman? Does he?

Movie: Citizen Kane (1941)

Director: Orson Welles

Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore…. Really, no one else y’all will know

Had I seen it before: No - forgive me, please

[The very attractive] Orson Welles, watch out for that jawline ladies and gentlemen, was Citizen Kane’s producer, co-author, director and lead actor.  And Welles debuted in this film at the age of 25, no less….I’ll let that sink in for moment as many of us reflect on our quarter-life accomplishments, or lack thereof.

It seemed necessary to start the challenge with an undeniable classic (as opposed to an obscure flix to which there are several on my list – with good reason). I suppose you could say I was always vaguely aware of the movie Citizen Kane, but only in the way that I sensed it was a regular answer at bar trivia at any given night around the country.

It just so happens that several weeks ago I had a brief, albeit torrid, love affair with the Nat Geo series American Genius. One episode was devoted to the intertwined stories of revolutionary publishing tycoons William Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. William Hearst, the undeniable antagonist of the duo, was cited as being the inspiration behind the self-absorbed Kane character.  After those 45 minutes, I knew more about Citizen Kane then I had the previous 24 years. 

Citizen Kane is regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time. Source(s): basically, everyone. The narrative techniques and innovative experimentation with lighting, editing and sound were momentous to evolution of film. It is also recognized as one of the first films to NOT tell its story chronologically, instead relying on character flashbacks. To put it simply, Citizen Kane was a rule breaker. And don’t we all have a soft spot for those? So whether you’re a Usual Suspects, the first 7.5 minutes of Up or Forrest Gump-sitting-on-his-bus-stop-bench fan, to some extent you have to tip your hat to Mr. Kane. 

Extra Trivia:

"Citizen Kane is the first movie ever to include a room’s ceiling in a shot"

- *some man I met yesterday at a Dallas movie theater

 

 

Trivia:

Citizen Kane is arguably the film that created the technique known as “deep focus” – scene staging that includes a deep or wide space capture (in other words, having multiple parts, foreground, middle ground and background… in some cases, extreme background… focused in a single shot) 

As this was the project’s inaugural film, I owed it to myself not to break my own project commandments, not this early anyways. Confused about this? Read about it here. Consequently, Wolf and I prepped the movie projector and before you knew it we had the film up in big lights across my living room wall. 

With the proper magnifying glass, you may be able to see my actual TV in the background

With the proper magnifying glass, you may be able to see my actual TV in the background

The film opens up eerily, with b-roll of a decaying, unfinished mansion. We see Charles [Citizen] Foster Kane utter his last word – “Rosebud” –which sparks a tabloid heyday and sets in motion one newspaper journalist’s manic hunt to uncover the inspiration behind the celebrity’s dying word. The intense, in-depth development of Charles Kane is then pieced together throughout the rest of the film using the reporter’s interviews with Kane’s ex-wives, colleagues and friends.

Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted, and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn’t get, or something he lost. Anyway, I don’t think it could have explained everything. I don’t think any word can describe a man’s life.

Kane’s rise to A-list notoriety reads like a Horatio Alger tale: A flashback reveals Kane was raised in a single-room cabin on the harsh Colorado frontier. But unlike the common rags-to-riches stories, Kane wealth is not forged from years of hard labor and Vanity Fair-esque social climbing. Rather, his mother is bequeathed a mine which is later discovered to be inordinately rich in gold. Kane’s subsequent life choices all seem to be a not-so-subtle protest of his silver spoon, excuse me entire silver cutlery set.

Wolf, by this point, has fallen asleep beside me. Murphy is out watching the world go by from my apartment’s balcony. And I was left to struggle through the 2 hrs. Rosebud agony alone. 

"A fellow will remember a lot of things you wouldn't think he'd remember. You take me. One day, back in 1896, I was crossing over to Jersey on the ferry, and as we pulled out, there was another ferry pulling in, and on it there was a girl waiting to get off. A white dress she had on. She was carrying a white parasol. I only saw her for one second. She didn't see me at all, but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl"

WHAT IS ROSEBUD? IS IT A PERSON? IS IT PLACE? WAS IT THE NAME OF A NEW JERSEY FERRY? 

IS IT…. Wait. Hold up. I haven't mentioned yet that I purchased this movie copy from a nearby resale warehouse – used. At various points, the movie froze for a second or two. I’ll be the first to admit, it could have been the disc or it just as easily could have been my crapshoot of a computer. Mystery remains. Anyways, I’m 1 hr and 46 minutes into the movie, looking for solace from my boyfriend, getting none, when suddenly the movie freezes then THE CREDITS START ROLLING. 

CHAOS ENSUES IN MY APARTMENT.  Wolf gets woken up in a gusto. Murphy acknowledges my distress for 1.5 seconds, .5 seconds longer than normal. My DVD decided to skip over the last 2 film chapters where, I could only assume, the revealing of Rosebud occurs.

I try rewinding. Nada. I try accessing the same chapter from the main menu. Nope. I quickly see if I can find the ending on YouTube. Strike that, I will NOT watch a snipped-version ending to the greatest film of all time. I end up taking 3-ish minutes to meticulously drag the tiny movie cursor across the time bar at the bottom of the screen to isolate and then avoid the comprised section of the film. This whole debacle ends up cutting out upwards of a minute from the film and gave me a mild heart attack.  

I won't ruin the ending but will tell  you I did end up seeing the ending (#blessed). Get over the fact that it's in black & white and go see it for yourselves. Or, if you're like my boyfriend, use it as an alternative to Ambien. 

My boyfriend fell asleep within the first 15 minutes of the film and, honestly, that’s a liberal estimate. As retribution, I’ve asked him to write his own synopsis of the film… as much as his nodding in and out of consciousness would allow. Here’s what we got (noteworthy stuff):

Chuck Foster Kane, (of course he means Charles Foster Kane)

No idea where the name citizen comes from (apparently neither of us do. Please comment if you’re a reader who can fill us in)

The evil tycoon who was gaining supporters and gaining the hatred of just as many more [the original trump]… profound, babe.

Cheap snow and a broken snow globe. On his deathbed, he mumbled Rosebud.Nobody knew what it meant. (Great. BF has accurately summarized the first two [albeit highly significant] minutes of the film -the only time he was fully conscious) 

 

People wanted him to run for office and valued his opinion for whatever reason.

“I’m an American”

There was lots of loud noise and random brass instrument shouting during the movie. (Contributed to him waking up periodically)

During the depression, it hit him hard.  Lost money. A million a year (this was in the middle of the movie…. Impressed he was alert enough to catch this)

Some guy clapped like a maniac, very creepy I stayed awake for a few mins after that (he’s actually referring to Kane here)

Also the ENTIRE MOVIE is in black and white????

Only one movie in and we need more rules.

New rule: movie watching companions may be solicited to contribute their feedback to the blog, especially if said individual(s) fall asleep during the film

2 hours with this man? Yes, pls

2 hours with this man? Yes, pls