Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film directed by and starring Orson Welles. Over time the film has been described as one of the greatest films of all times and highly praised for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative skills. Although the film was not so well received when it was first released, its reputation has become very strong and influential over time.

The story line is considered to be a ‘roman a clef’, which is a story with a key message, about Charles Foster Kane, which was played by Welles himself. Who is considered to be a character based upon newspaper giant William Randolf Hearst. The film follows Kane’s employment from the beginning, when it was considered to be an ‘idealistic public service’ to when it became a struggle and desire for power, therefore ruining his career and his social appeal.

The plot of the story that is featured in the film begins with a portrayal of Kane’s death where he is alone. The news quickly spreads throughout the world and comes to be one of the biggest pieces of sensational news of its time. The death of the leader of newspaper sparks a young writers interest and he goes on to find out as much as he can about the life of the newspaper tycoon. Through his investigation, he discovers that Kane lived his childhood in poverty until the “world’s third largest gold mine” was discovered on the land that he lived on. This opened up many opportunities and also led him to be able to entered the newspaper world at the age of twenty-five. He did this with the sensational yellow journalism (that that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead of uses bold and attractive headlines and exaggerated stories in order to capture attention). He then goes on to take over the New York Inquirer and hires all the best journalists. New York was already a revolutionary land mark in terms of the new modern idea of print, but the fact that Kane was taking it over seemed to spell that the city was heading for even greater things as far as the printed new was concerned.

However, as time went on, it was becoming clear that Kane was not as a positive figure was everyone first thought him to be. On the outside it seemed as if he was doing a lot for the news industry but it was becoming clear that his acts were selfish. Much like Hearst, it was becoming that Kane was manipulating the public’s opinion, most specifically in the Spanish American War. His rise to power was documented including his short following downfall. ‘A love nest scandal’ ends both Kane’s marriage and political aspirations – he could be better described as the man that got everything and then lost it again. At the end of the film it was revealed that Kane was happiest when he was a child, when things were simple and when he was in fact living in poverty. This brings about the question and highlights one of life’s most important philosophies – does money really buy happiness? When Kane was a child with no money he was clearly a lot happier and had a dream. When it came to achieving his dream, his goals grew selfish and power oriented, which coincidentally led to a complex life, bring about many miseries.

Welles never revealed who the main inspiration for the character of Kane was. It was believed that Kane was a synthesis of many characters although the main inspiration was most commonly perceived to be Hearst. If this were to be true, then the film Citizen Kane can be seen to be a hostile parody of Hearst’s life. There are a few evidences within the film that suggest this could be true as many mannerisms that Kane featured were also often to be noted as some of Hearst’s traits. As well as this, some of the speeches were also historically similar to those of Hearst’s.

Hearst clearly thought the same, as he was thoroughly outraged upon the release of the film. He publically banned any advertising, reviewing or any mention of the film in his papers and told his journalists to openly slander Welles. Together with Metro-Godwin-Mayer, Hearst also tried to make an offer to the film producers RKO to destroy all prints and burn the negative of the film. This is hardly surprising as if the story of Kane is based upon Hearst, then the portrayal is openly negative and critical and overall comments that Hearst led a selfish driven life. I think this highlights especially the brutal yet substantial lives that were being led in the set up of modern press, especially in New York where most of the innotive began however I also feel that it is a correct comment on how massive corporatist saw the job at the time and were easily de-moralised by their surroundings.