Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane has aruably become one of the most polarizing films amongst young film students. Academically and critically the film has won much praise for twice topping the AFI top 100 list of best American movies. As such this film is often a staple of first year film studies across universities throughout the country. I cannot help but wonder if the film suffers from being on top because automatically a film student is looking for flaws in the film. To be fair most film's are viewed in relation to how they present their narrative. As such the film is essentially a biography on William Randolph Hearst who was one of the most influential and wealthiest men in American history. Orson Wells made the film as a loose biopic that really exposed how a person like William Randolph Hearst could turn into such a tortured and seemingly angry soul. In fact Citizen Kane came under attack from William Randolph Hearst and thanks to his influence he was able to basically ensure that the film could never become a commercial hit. A powerful social and political figure using their influence to bury a "fictional" film is worthy of it's place in cinematic history. However, the true greatness of Citizen Kane is really apparent in the film's innovative use of shadows, lighting, deep and soft focus and many other seemingly new cinematic conventions that became staples of Hollywood films even till this day. Now I would also argue that it is not the most compelling narrative film of all time, however, I do think it tells a complete story that is highly engaging. The film makes sharp social and politcal commentary especially in regards to the idea of money being able to influence and buy elections. A recent movie that in many ways attempts to do the same thing as Citizen Kane did is The Social Network. After watching Citizen Kane put the Social Network on not too soon after and I think you would be suprised at how closely those two films resemble each other. Now if you do not think that the Social Network is a great film I have nothing left to say to you. Just kidding. If you watch these two films I think you will see how far the influence of Citizen Kane and Orson wells really did reach.