Shot in 1941 by Orson Welles, Citizen Kane stays one of the best films in the history of cinematography. After more than 70 years, the film is still admired by the critics and the audience and inspires dozens of filmmakers. The film’s numerous phenomenal artistic and intertextual codes testify of the merited fame.
Calling Citizen Kane “a discourse on method”, Andre Bazin probably meant the unlimited source of the cinematographic devices the film represents for the ordinary cinema lovers and the professional filmmakers. First of all, it is significant to understand the reasons why the film had such a success in the 40’s. The answer is very simple – in the beginning of the cinematographic era, there was nothing to compare to Citizen Kane because before it, no one could ever shoot something so complex in both artistic and intertextual terms.
The visual part of the film was borrowed from the theatre while the sound techniques were taken from the radio. No one could ever imagine the possibility of such uncommon approaches and their impressive effects. “Deep focus, low-key lighting, (), epic long shots juxtaposed with extreme close-ups, dizzying crane shots ()” – though the techniques were not invented by Orson Welles, their mix and the skilful presentation let the film’s every scene become a separate work of art (Deren 490).
AFI as well as other film organizations called Citizen Kane “the best film of the 20th century”. The ordinary spectator might be surprised by that due to the high technologies available today for shooting everything possible. But in fact, the presence of technologies does not free the filmmaker from the talent and the powerful idea behind the images. Orson Welles’s uniqueness lies in his daring innovation in the film’s visual part and the theme that was not previously discussed and shown in cinema.
In artistic terms, the film is still regard as a competitor among the contemporary films. “() Welles’s use of lengthy takes is similarly derived from the need in the live theater to stage the action in the unified space” (Deren 506). Obviously, only a few filmmakers have the talent of making the long takes so that the audience does not get bored. Orson Welles provided the film with the extraordinary non-linear narrative which contributed to the film’s particularity. His masterful use of the camera let the audience follow the character during the long takes and watch the impressive play of the actors during the extreme close-ups.
The idea of the director to highlight the media’s controversial role in the life of the citizens can still be considered up-to-date. His camera angles are still used by the contemporary directors; the symbolic meanings for the camera movements testify of the author’s goal to cover all the bases: “In scenes depicting Kane as an old man, the camera is often far away, making him seem remote, inaccessible” (Deren 496). The fundamental approach to each detail in the scene provided the eternal fame for the film.
When the work of art stays relevant through the decades and even the centuries, it appears in the list of the best ones. Citizen Kane made the cinematographic history and will stay one of the best no matter how far the technologies in the filmmaking industry go in future. The film will be remembered for the breakthrough it became in the beginning of the cinematic era and the point when the auteur approach to the film appeared. Orson Welles’s film is a basis that every cinema lover or professional filmmaker must know to understand this art globally.
Works Cited
Deren, Maya. Filmmaker and Theorist. Understanding Movies, n.d. Print.
