Has anyone seen "Citizen Kane"?

[Wallydraigle]

I bought it Saturday because it's supposed to be the best movie ever. I watched it and it was okay, but I don't see what the big deal is. I know a lot of people like Orson Welles, but it just didn't seem like a great movie. Who else has seen it and what did you think about it?

 

[Russ]

<< but I don't see what the big deal is. >>



Then watch it again and, this time, pay attention.

Russ, NCNE

 

Ditto what Russ said.

 

[glen]

Watch it again.
All the things it does that you have seen before, were first done in this film.

 

[Koeppster]

I have seen it. It's a fine film, but very slightly overrated in my opinion.

If you want to see another Welles film that COULD have been one of the greatest, watch The Magnificent Ambersons. Welles was the director for about the first 2/3 or 3/4 of the movie, then got into a contractual dispute with the studio. He either was canned or quit (can't recall which), and another person was brought in to finish the film. You can tell too, it's very obvious. Could have been such a great film....if only.

EDIT: Minor wording change, fixed a line break.

 

[jjones]

right after the sound of music, this is my next fav flick.

 

[glen]

My favorite modern film is Cinema Paradiso.

 

[Wallydraigle]

What should I be watching for?

 

[gopunk]

films like this are often not overrated per se, but highly respected for the influence they had on later films. it may not seem like much today, but when it first came out it was like nothing people had ever seen. kind of like king kong...

 

[pulse8]

The film itself while compared to today's standards is merely mediocre. The significance of this film is that it set the standard for modern filmmaking. It was the first movie every made in that fashion and every film after it has been using the same techniques and the basics haven't changed much.

It's not that great of a movie, it's the importance in the art that makes it wonderful.


Koeppster:

I think you might have your movies mixed up. Citizen Kane was entirely directed by Orson Welles. Maybe you're thinking of Touch of Evil?

 

[gopunk]

speaking of old movies, i highly recommend the maltese falcon. that's a movie that's still great today... i only wish they still made movies like that.

 

[pulse8]

For comedies, one of my all-time favorites is The Philadelphia Story. It's a great film with an awesome cast!

 

[gopunk]

I think you might have your movies mixed up. Citizen Kane was entirely directed by Orson Welles. Maybe you're thinking of Touch of Evil?

i think he was talking about the other movie.

 

[glen]

<< What should I be watching for? >>


Tons.
Here's one example.
Ever seen a movie super impose a Newspaper headline/newspaper being printed with a back ground scene?
CK did it first and it is now almost a cliche.

 

[yakko]

I love that movie. They play it almost every year at Tampa Theatre and I go see it every time.

 

[Koeppster]

<< I think you might have your movies mixed up. Citizen Kane was entirely directed by Orson Welles. Maybe you're thinking of Touch of Evil? >>



I'm well aware that CK was directed entirely by Welles. I was referring to The Magnificent Ambersons. Had I put my line break in a more appropriate spot, this would have been clear.

 

[SendTrash]

it is just a beautifully shot movie... and the story is awesome...


that movie was and is still ground breaking... you should have some appreciation...



A lot of movies learned from this one

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Yep it's a classic. Unfortunately it's style has been copied so it seems no big deal today. Same is true of The Seven Samurai. Many have rated it THE best movie ever made. The plot has been copied time and again. You know how the bad guys come over the hill backlit against the sky? This movie did it first, along with about a dozen other things. Might try that when you have some time. DANGER WILL ROBINSON- This movie is 3+ hours long though. Try to find the DVD. It has a commentary track that is most instructive.

 

[kev0ut]

yeah but the story of the seven samurai isn't that hard to come up with. i think a blind, retarded monkey eventually would have came up with it. so i don't think its all that great in its originality.

 

[Murpheeee]

CK is hardly a main stream movie.
At the time it was released it was critically acclaimed but pretty much bombed at the box office.
It was even booed at the Academy Awards when it wonbest Screenplay (but that's another story)
It was only later that people actually came to appreciate it's amazing groundbreaking techniques.

Some examples:

- Use of lighting to create mood (recall scene with reporter in archives...light shafts cutting through darkness, giving almost churchlink holiness to place)
- Some scenes, characters speaking are not in frame or just silhouetted....makes you pay more attention to what is being said.
- Placing camera very low down and looking up at people to emphasize greatness or scale
- Use of deep focus lenses to have huge depth of field in focus, specially to emphasize distance especially between people (recall scence in mansion of Kane & wife)

The studios hated all this revolutionary artsy-fartsy stuff, infact Welles went to great lengths to keep any studio people from seeing any of the movie before it was released....when they saw it, it was too late.....but he never got as much freedom in any other movie.

 

[Soybomb]

If you do watch it again, this time watch for composition/technique rather than watching the movie if you will. Quite frankly I never liked the actually movie content that much, its alright but I'd rather read a history book or biography on the subject. In my eyes at least the thing that so many revere is the techniques used in it, as has already been pointed out. Really unless you're truly "into" films, I consider it something to pass over.

 

[Talon]

The real drama was the battle between Welles, the studios and William Randolph Hearst.

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