My Final Thoughts on Citizen Kane.

I just finished watching Citizen Kane for the second time since I felt that my expectations for Citizen Kane were too high and too different the first time and therefore I did not enjoy it. But after re-watching it, I have a different opinion.

I will say that the best thing Citizen Kane has going for it is the visuals. Citizen Kane is without a doubt a visual masterpiece. Not only was it visually inventive for its time but to this day it is still visually stunning whether that be the use of shadows, the heavy smoke or the long and interesting takes. I also felt that Orson Welles gave a genuinely good performance, he gave his character a sense of joy at times while also giving him a sense of depression at other times. I was also surprised by how funny this film was, it didn't make me laugh out loud but there are many scenes that provide a needed sense of comic relief.

But unfortunately, they are the only positives I have. The main problems I had with my first viewing are still present. First off, the beginning is full of so much heavy exposition that it made me laugh. I wish they tried to be a bit smarter and work it into the story. At least they didn't do the worst kind of exposition, a character just spurting out facts in a conversation. The acting, except for Orson Welles, is so bland. They all give the same performance, it feels so much like overacting. That really bugged me. The dialogue is even worse. Characters speak like a book, not like real people. You can make the argument that that was how people spoke in the 40's and while that may be true, that just means that that aspect does not hold up anymore. I also felt that the present day scenes were extremely boring. The flashbacks were also boring at times but they had Orson Welles so at least they had something for me to enjoy. That brings me to my biggest problem. At the surface, it looks like Charles Foster Kane is a complex and fleshed out character. But he isn't. In fact, not a single character is fleshed out enough for me to care about them. Kane is interesting but only on the surface. I cared for no one in this movie because there are no good characters. I was emotionally attached to no one, in fact I was attached to nothing at all. Not even the mystery.

Overall, there is no doubt that Citizen Kane is a fantastic film for it's time and what it did for cinema is outstanding and I am grateful that it exists. But as a movie today, it lacks so many ingredients that are required of a great film. It has 1-dimensional characters, mostly bad acting, cringe worthy dialogue, a laughably long and heavy scene of exposition, a story that is compelling at first but veers off course as the film progresses and a depressing tone that wants to make me fall asleep. But Orson Welles gives a standout performance, the scenes of comic relief really work, it is a visually outstanding film that never ceases to please the eye and it is a film that can teach filmmakers (like me) how to craft a great film, in a directorial sense.

I would like to mention that I do not have anything against older films or think they are all boring and/or bad. For example, 12 Angry Men (1957) is, to this day, one of the best films ever created. It is intense, extremely well acted, features brilliant writing and directing and it's visually compelling.

I think it's possibly the greatest film ever made. This always seems to be a debate all around the forum though.

Kane not a fleshed out character? Bad acting? Bad dialogue? Boring?

You didn't care for Kane?

You see, I find all of these complaints to be false, at least for me. Kane is a very complex and at the same time simple character who I think is very relatable in some ways. I think Scorsese says something along the lines of it's a great film because no matter how many times we watch it, and no matter how much we learn about Kane, we still never get close to truly knowing him. The films about the corruption of man and loss of innocence over time, we have someone with a troubled childhood who we see enjoying the pleasant things when younger without knowing what would come to trouble him over time, we see a man who wants to be an icon and deliver something great to the world, but then his honest dreams and aspirations turn out to be just that, as is everything with the real world, over time people change, we lose our innocence, we face problems, love doesn't turn out the way we expect, we get greedy, power corrupts. He has everything he could have maybe ever dreamed of, materialistic goods, he's wealthy, has a great home, a beautiful women, but it counts for nothing because inside he has lost everything about him that made him truly enjoy life. His women doesn't love him, he's not happy, he's realised that his aims were contradictory and he was never truly able to achieve what he wanted.

I think it should teach people how to make a great film in every aspect of film making.

Thanks for your reply. I will say that your argument is not necessarily false, but I definitely did not get that from watching the film, emotionally. The reason I know that is because the way you describe him is true but I did not get that feeling watching the film. The way you describe him makes him seem like a complex character but in the film, to me, that never made me care for him. He was very unlikable or relatable (again, to me) and there was no goal that he was trying to reach that I wanted him to achieve. Like I said, on the surface he seems complex and and when you write about him he seems complex. But in the moment, in the film, he seems very bland and unlikable. And he is the protagonist. For example, Miles Teller's character in Whiplash is not very likable. But he is relatable. We all know the feeling of being told you can't do something but doing your best any way. The feeling of trying to gain respect from someone who won't give it to you. The feeling of being absorbed and controlled by an idea, a desire. And you want him to reach his goal, feed that desire. That's my view anyway. Regarding the acting and dialogue, you must admit that the dialogue is pretty old timey and unrealistic and the acting is very soap opera ish. Maybe you like that, but I don't. And regarding the fact that it was boring, I felt it was boring because I had no characters to follow and/or care about or a story that resonated with me.