Citizen Kane Film Analysis

A man like Hearst seems to embody more history than other people do; in his company a writer may feel that he has been living in the past and on the outskirts and now he’s living in the dangerous present, right where the decisions are really made.

In this way, Ms. Kael describes the fascination with the subject which led Herman Mankiewicz to write a movie based on the life of the most powerful newspaper man in America at that time.

Another Kael quote characterizes the story which Mankiewicz finally produced and which so interested Orson Welles:

Kane may be a study of egotism and a movie about money and love but it isn’t just another movie about a rich man who isn’t loved; it’s a scandalous, unauthorized, muckraking biography of a man who was still alive and – though past his peak influence – still powerful, so it conveyed shock and danger, and it drew its strength from its reverberations in the life of the period.

The script which Mankiewicz provided made Orson Welles a star. Contrary to what many people believe, Welles had nothing to do with writing the script for Citizen Kane. Mankiewicz had already started working on the idea when he proposed the idea to Welles. The two men were eager to begin the project, but as it progress Mankiewicz began to have second doubts about his brutal portrayal of Hearst and his po

. . .
orter that Kane never gave anything away; “He left you a tip.” Kane’s character is usually described as materialistic. He, like Hearst, is extremely acquisitive and in this trait their lives seem to be very parallel. Kane’s Xanadu is built of many castles, purchased in Europe, disassembled and shipped to the site. Hearst also acquired whole buildings, including an abbey from Spain which he never saw again after it arrived in New York. This constant seeking for satisfaction in material possessions is another part of the American myth that the rich, because they cannot buy happiness, are very unhappy. In a characteristically grand statement, Welles categorized the contribution of his cameraman, Gregg Toland, to the success of the movie. He said: I had a great advantage not only in the real genius of my cameraman but in the fact that he, like all men who are masters of a craft, told me at the outset that there was nothing about camerawork that any intelligent being couldn’t learn in half a day. And he was right. Like some of Welles’ other gestures, this statement simplifies the contributions Toland did make to the film. Citizen Kane was hailed “...after the war for its single take, deep focus scenes as an improvement
. . .

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Approximate Word count = 2385
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)