You must watch..."Citizen Kane"

Today, an endorsement for the “greatest movie ever made” according to a bunch of critics, like the people who make the AFI 100 list, and such.

Rosebud...

What’s so great about Citizen Kane?  I watched it for the first time in film school and not knowing much about it, I went in expecting it to be boring.  Needless to say, I was surprised by how impressed and engaged I was with the film.  The way the film is photographed really grabbed me.  Many of the angles and camera movements felt very ahead of their time.  Other than Hitchcock, I can’t think of many other filmmakers doing that sort of work in the early 40s.

As far as the screenplay, I can’t say much.  It’s very good but also very epic.  I’m not sure there are many things  a baby writer can learn from it other than to create an extremely engaging main character.  Beyond that, the film does a lot of stuff I’m sure baby writers would LOVE to do (like tell a story completely in flashbacks) stuff that might not work for everyone. 

Funny enough, of all the Oscars Citizen Kane was nominated for (including Best Picture) Screenplay was the only one the film won.  But, that’s probably the best reason to watch Citizen Kane right now, post Oscars.  If you’re feeling like the wrong films, actors, sound editors, make up artists, or any of your favorites lost out last night (especially because of Hollywood politics) you can take solace in knowing the “greatest movie of all time” didn't even win Best Picture the year it was nominated.


EDIT: So I write this post, go off and watch the Oscars, and Steven Spielberg up and says basically the same thing before he introduces Best Picture.  Ha, love it!