Orson Welles created Citizen Kane using a unique way of story telling. While following much of classic Hollywood form, Welles rejected some of its simpler aspects. Instead of following a traditional linear plot line, the viewer is taken through an investigation of the word “rosebud” right along with Thompson with newsreels and flashbacks filling in the missing information.
Towards the beginning of the film “News on the March” covers in a short period the life of Charles Foster Kane. Rather than simply beginning at the start of the story, much of the entire story is featured all in a few minutes. Welles uses this as an exposition, conveniently introducing the audience to several of the main characters in the story and it will later serve as background knowledge for the viewer to properly comprehend the importance that certain events appear in Thompson’s investigation.
One very interesting choice of Welles’s was to have the opening scene take place at the end of the story. This choice was obviously very deliberate to focus the audience’s attention on the word “rosebud.” From this point on the viewer is driven to find the meaning behind this word to see if it reveals something about the mysterious Charles Foster Kane. In comparing other potential choices for telling a story about the newspaper tycoon’s life, there seems to be no better way to attempt to evaluate an all encompassing purpose or meaning of his life than starting with his last words. Also, this adds emphasis to the impossibility of summing up a person’s entire life, as emphasized in one of the movie’s final points when Thompson says, “I don’t think any word can explain a man’s life.” The audience then fully realizes that although the meaning of rosebud is discovered, the true meaning of Kane’s life will never be revealed. The flashback style that the film follows also allows Orson Welles to tell the story somewhat in the method of a detective movie, slowly filling in information through flashbacks. The first flashback occurs through Thatcher’s manuscript, then with Bernstein, Leland, Susan, and finally the butler. Each of these flashbacks allows the audience to slowly accumulate information about his life roughly chronologically. Instead of having the plot displayed in a strictly linear fashion, the viewers have an idea of what to look for in his life, adding to the audience’s anticipation over Kane’s mysterious life and the motivation behind his actions.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above