Citizen Kane: The Grandfather of Modern Film

     Citizen Kane, also known as 'The Greatest Movie of All Time', may have been the greatest back in 1941, but it has been far surpassed nowadays by films like Avatar because we obviously have better technology now.  For a movie made over 7 decades ago though, it is absolutely fantastic.  It set guidelines for future movies; you could say it was the grandfather of our films today.  The acting, musical score and technological aspects were the best parts.  They came together to create a thoroughly enjoyable and technologically unique film. 

     To begin with, the acting of Orson Welles (Charles Foster Kane) pretty much made the movie.  In the scene where he confronts James W. Gettys and starts screaming down the stairs at him was so real sounding, you couldn't distinguish between the actor and Kane himself!  It was also pretty scary, he seemed genuinely mad in this scene.  This film succeeded in creating such a realistic feel (as it should, considering that it is based off a real man's life) because of the amazing cast, particularly Welles.  For those who oppose this idea, compare it to the acting of today.  Nobody can rightly say that the amazing acting of Welles is worse than modern actors like Kristen Stewart. 

This a perfect example of what the acting of Citizen Kane is NOT like.

     Along with the acting, the musical score of Citizen Kane (by Bernard Hermann) was used very effectively in creating the mood of the movie.  Starting right from the first shot of the film until the ending credits, this movie was filled to the brim with gripping tracks that reflected exactly as Kane was feeling at the time.  A scene that stood out for me was the very first one, which featured a sinister and mysterious track to set the mood of Kane's death.  It caught the audiences attention right from the onset and managed to make a bunch of black and white shots of old buildings look truly menacing.  Overall, I would say Hermann deserves to be up there with some of the greatest composers like John Williams (Jaws, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, Star Wars) and Alan Silvestri (The Avengers, Polar Express, Back to the Future, Forrest Gump).  In fact, it is said that Orson Welles believed half the success of Citizen Kane came from the music.

     The most amazing part of this movie was the technological aspect of the film.  This amazed me, considering how old the movie is.  Effects like going through the sign to zoom in on Susan Alexander's interview or using a special camera to keep in focus the entire scene are the things that make this movie so good.  Most people would never even notice the trick behind going through the sign (I certainly didn't!).  The special camera was the best idea by far though.  By showing the Kane's mother and Thatcher on one level, Kane's father on another and then Kane himself out the window, it added meaning to an otherwise dialogue-filled, tedious scene.  The fact that a special camera was created just for this movie is amazing and proves how dedicated Orson Welles was to making the film fantastic.

     Citizen Kane, although very old, managed to impress me more than a lot of movies today.  Maybe it isn't the greatest film now, what with all the new technology we have today, but it set high standards for future movies to overcome.  This film changed the way people thought about movies and helped to shape the way movies are made today.  The acting, music and technology were all fantastic.  I would give Citizen Kane a 90 out of 100.