Effects of Orson Welles' Film Citizen Kane (1941) on Expression in Film; the Film Industry; and on the Theory of Director as
The expressive meaning of the cinematic masterpiece Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles in 1941, cannot be summed up succinctly. Within Citizen Kane, everything is significant; not a single frame is wasted or extraneous. Each separate portion of the film contributes to its overall impact as one of the greatest cinematic achievements, if not the greatest, ever. The film is, quite simply, a tour de force of film directing; cinematography; mise-en-scene; editing; sound (it is considered the best sound film ever made (Mast and Kawin; Giannetti); acting; "aesthetic realism" (Bazin, p. 43) and an amazing (even to this day) synthesis of all these elements and more. Therefore, analyzing one line, or one key scene, or even a long series of scenes from Citizen Kane and declaring any of these somehow emblematic or symbolic, of the film as a whole, is insufficient. I will analyze, first, how Citizen Kane's impact on the film industry was immediate in Europe (especially France) grudging and slow in the United States due to Hollywood's dislike of Welles himself but eventually encyclopedic worldwide; second, how Orson Welles's role as director, combined with his overall vision for, and impact on the film, gave new credence to the aut
regular, and as a rebuke to Welles, the upstart, who lost out on the acting, Citizen Kane also helped to increase the popularity and versatility of "film noir" as a cinematic sub-genre. Film noir first rose to popularity in the late 1930's both during and after World War II, reflecting an international aftermath of anxiety, depression, and suspicion, brought on by the war and deepened by Cold War fears. Film noir arguably reflects, often literally (i.e., through the chilly weather conditions often typical of such films), the "Cold War" isolation, mistrust, and "chill" that was in the air in real life, in an ever-present, international, sense. A good example of this within Citizen Kane is Kane's walk along a dark, gloomy, muddy street right before he meets his second wife, the singer Susan Alexander. This period in cinema also coincided with the dawn of the "United States versus USSR (now Russia)" "Iron Curtain" period, in which the western world in particular divided along ideological and economic lines of "capitalism versus communism", each becoming increasingly, paranoid and suspicious of actions and would-be actions of the other. In film noir of this era, examples of this include use of images of jagged mirrors, mirror-like, distorted reflections (e.g., through outside windows of ill-lighted rooms), and voyeuristic views through windows and cracked doors (such as the way the young reporter in Citizen Kane is first seen, through a cracked door). Film noir also typically features unusual (e.g., slanted, angled, jagged, or interrupted camera angles and views). Jump-cuts and physical distortions of time and space, and other unusual juxtapositions of camera shots and sequences are typical. Citizen Kane is replete with these, particularly within the sequence in Kane's newspaper office with his reporters, and also within the scenes of Kane's extravagant party for the newspaper. Sometimes in Citizen Kane, camera shots are angled upward to achieve a distorted effect of the dominance of a person at the top of stairs (e.g., Charles Foster Kane at the top of a set of steps, viewed from the bottom, when his first wife di
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Approximate Word count = 1445
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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