Series – Future Self Journal – 21C – Citizen Kane

Finally watched it. I knew about the sled called Rosebud, and that it was an Orson Welles flick and apparently the best film of all time.

Beyond that, I was clueless. I wasn’t even going to watch it seriously as I assumed it was a mystery or noir, two storytelling genre I dislike. Must have been that every still image I saw when the film was referenced was very masculine, Kane’s hat askew and always in stark black and white. Nothing about what I saw struck me as interesting.

Well, Citizen Kane is an interesting and complex film. I can tell Welles left pieces of the puzzle throughout the film, and it will take me repeated viewings to catch even half of them. I suppose Welles is the only person to have the full articulated puzzle, uncut and edges frayed by viewers, who would never be able to assemble it seamlessly.

Citizen Kane isn’t my favorite movie, but I can see why it holds the title for some as the best movie ever made. The camera angles, the perspective of both the storytelling and director are unique, even in these times. I will enjoy watching it again. I have too many unanswered questions not to.

  1. Why was he abandoned by his parents? His mother, I’d watch an entire film of her story.
  2. What was his childhood really like? How did he interact with his peers?
  3. How much was really referencing William Randolph Hearst?
  4. I didn’t really get completely how he ruined the primary relationship.

Grateful for:

-movies that make me think. And research. Then process some more. Then wonder forever.

-a bag that fits all my notebooks so I can carry them around the house to different writing nooks.

-sitting in a toasty warm house, in front of a too frosty window, on a bright white sunny day in January.

Godspeed Y’all.

Please share your experiences, sources or research!