Citizen Kane

Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane [1941] continues to captivate audiences through its ability to coherently challenge and give insight into ___question____. Welles composes a film of high textual integrity through the employment of revolutionary cinematic techniques in a fragmented depiction of the rise and fall of an individual damaged by his isolated upbringing. The film’s exploration of the corrupt and deceitful nature of power, the degradation of interpersonal relationships due to the imposition of control and the multifaceted perception of identity due to differing perceptions, allows the film to resonate through time as it depicts enduring and contemporary ideals of the human condition.

Citizen Kane explores how a childhood avoid of parental affection forms a distorted perception on love. In a flashback to Kane’s childhood where Thatcher and his mother discuss his future in the foreground, deep focus frames him within a window as he is playing with Rosebud, his sled symbolising his entrapment as his future is controlled by the desires of others. Following his separation from his parents, Kane’s attachment to “Rosebud”, as it is the last word he utters, is symbolic of his distorted perception of love and the emotional void he experiences throughout his life due to his lack of maternal affection. As Kane’s relationship with Susan continues, sharp and sterile lighting and their physical separation as Susan solves puzzles highlights their isolation and loneliness, the incomplete and scattered depiction of the puzzle as well as the echoes of their conversation reinforce the hollowness of their relationship. Furthermore, as a distressed Susan shouts “You never gave me anything you cared about…….you just tried to buy me into giving you something,” a close up of Susan’s expensive, fancy clothing is symbolic of her entrapment in a world of Kane’s material construct, where he perceives that love is a commodity that can be bought with wealth, resulting in his inability to form fulfilling relationships.

This distorted perception results in Kane’s inability to understand love and form fulfilling relationships. This is revealed through the breakfast montage of Emily and Kane, where non-diegetic romantic music and formal clothing indicates their close intimacy and contentment. However a series of dissolve shots, transitioning into a cold and gloomy score where Kane dressed in a robe, arrogantly declares “People will think (Emily), what I tell them to think,” reveals his narcissistic nature and the subsequent tension placed in their marriage due to Kane’s inability to have an understanding of Emily’s perspective in their marriage. Moreover, the ultimate consequences of Kane’s inability to understand love is revealed in a deep shot of medicine in the foreground followed by a mid-shot depicting Susan’s almost lifeless body as Welles confronts the audience on how Kane’s lack of understanding towards Susan, by forcing her to perform in the opera, has forced her to attempt a fatal action. The enveloping darkness of Susan’s room as Kane states “I can’t imagine how Mrs Kane came to make such a foolish mistake,” symbolises Kane’s inability to fathom the cause of Susan’s unhappiness due to his distorted perception of love.