When you heard that Citizen Kane is considered the “best film ever made,” what did you expect? Give some detail about what you consider important in a good film (in a general sense for all films you decide to view).
Now that you have seen the film (twice or nearly twice), do you agree with the critics that this is the best film? Some argue that the the film is “as empty and heartless as its central character.” Do you agree or disagree?
Write your thoughts at the blog. Be sure to complete the work before coming to class on January 5, 2012.
I have to say that I did not care for this movie. I found it to be boring, and I think I even fell asleep watching it. The start of the movie was to long, I kinda wondered if the whole movie was going to be done this way. After watching how it was made, I can now see how it could be considered one of the best movies ever made. So I am basing my opinion on the movie being great on how they put it all together. I was very impressed with how the movie was made and it came out looking really. You could tell that some of the scenes where a painting in the background. However, I didn't realize that the statue was a miniature and that some of the scenes were clips from other sources. And great job on the make up artist. I thought the old Kane was played by someone else. And I agree that Kane's friend ( forgetting his name) deserved a better job on the aging process. He did look like something just thrown together. I'm not sure what else to say about this movie. I didn't like it, but was impressed with how it was made.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that, although the film, Citizen Kane, is regarded critically as the “best film ever made,” I still have my doubts. This is true even after discussing the film with a close friend over the Christmas holidays, a filmmaker for the CBC, who told me he had watched it dozens of times and written about it at university. For me, a good film is one where I get “lost” in the film and lose myself to the artifice. If I am too aware of the way in which a film has worked its magic, it won’t work as well for me. A good story is important, but then I also like films that don’t follow traditional narrative structures (my favourite film of 2011 is Tree of Life by Terrence Malick). I do, however, admire the technical skill shown by Orson Welles in his masterpiece and, with the help of Roger Ebert’s commentary, I have begun to appreciate the “why” of the film’s popularity among critics. Recently, however, I noted that Citizen Kane is #38 at the Internet Movie Database, not even close to the top film according to hundreds of thousands of votes. That film is one of my all-time favourites: The Shawshank Redemption. We’ll have to spend some time with that film, too, before the course is over!
ReplyDeleteBefore I learned everything thing about this movie, I liked it simply because I wanted to view the character and story in a way of psychology and humanity from which the tragic life of Kane has a lot to dig out. After the class discussion and Internet research, however, I have been able to observe this master piece in different ways which surprised me even more.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing impressed me is its structure of storytelling. Unlike what I learned from my English 12, this story wasn't told in omniscient point of view. It was told by multiple narrators from those Kane’s life was treaded by people surrounded him. The plot was overlapped a little bit, like you opened the multiple drawers, each drawer had something you don't know and something you knew. It is still not common in present time, not to mention it was unprecedented at the time this movie was made. Although I was a little confused following this structure at the beginning of the movie, I admire and respect the director’s brilliant idea of telling story in a way that no one ever thought in his time.
The other outstanding part of this movie is its cinematography. I still don't know how to combine the long-shot and close-up by which the foreground and background scenes putting all together within one frame; I wish I could do that with my Sony digital camera. This technique is called deep focus; it has been repeatedly used in many movies since then.
Because of the many more new techniques used in this movie, which made it a pioneer in filmmaking and an experimental all-in-one as well, Citizen Kane is worth of its great reputation of the best movie in all time. And I couldn't agree more.
After watching Citizen Kane I have to say, I was surprised that I liked the movie and would say it has become one of my favourite movies. while I agree with Veronica about the begging of the movie, it was kind of long and kind of boring (News on the March). I was wondering if the whole movie will be like that, but once the story starts it gets attention-grabbing.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really got my attention was when the movie begins with end. I haven`t seen any old movie that uses this technique. The special part about this movie is the flashbacks. It has lots of flashbacks, but they are well organized, interesting, and entertaining. The other thing that makes this movie remarkable is their excellent makeup artist. Specially Citizen Kane`s makeup.
The story of movie was a little bit puzzling, but that`s what makes a movie unique and successful. My favourite scene is where the reporter says “I DON’T THINK ANY WORD CAN DESCIBE A MAN’S LIFE”. Although the movie is sad, it teaches a lot of things. I really liked it and seen I have watched it I have recommended to my friends to watch it too.