Citizen Kane is a 1941 film directed by Orson Welles, who also stars in the film as Charles Foster Kane, a highly successful and wealthy newspaper tycoon who dies in the film’s opening holding a snow globe and uttering the word ‘rosebud’. The film centers around a reporter, Jerry Thompson, and his investigation into the meaning of Kane’s famous last words. Thompson interviews five key figures throughout Kane’s life in order grasp the significance of Rosebud and though this journey the audience witnesses, through flashbacks of Kane’s life from a poor young boy to an immensely successful and powerful Newspaper tycoon. However at a certain climactic point in the film, after he loses his political campaign to become Governor of New York, the audience witnesses Kane’s downfall and the terrible events leading up to his death. He loses his reputation, happiness, both of his wives and his best friend. Kane is left trapped in a castle of material possessions which he now perceives as worthless, miserably reflecting on the life he could have lived had he not chased ‘the American Dream’.

Define the ‘American Dream’

The American Dream states that “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement”. This is an important motto that America holds for society because it is rooted in the Declaration of Independence. The American Dream is chased by Kane after he is whisked away by Thatcher at the request of his mother to live a wealthy lifestyle.

Read one critical review of the film and record 3 noteworthy points.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/citizen-kane-review-1941-movie-998891

• This 1941 review provides in-depth descriptions of particular important scenes that Welles constructs well. The review describes the final scene’s clever use of filmography by describing that “the camera pans over the limitless expanse of paintings, sculpture, and all his other useless possessions. Appraisers are sorting it out, and the worthless items are burned. Into the flames go all manner of knickknacks, and at last, the wreckers begin burning odds and ends from his mother’s home out west, which Kane had collected after she died. Suddenly the flames are seen licking over a little boy’s sled. The camera picks it out from the rest of the fire, and on it is written the one word “Rosebud.” “
• The review claims that the film is “great in the manner of its story-telling, in both the writing of that story and its unfolding before a camera; great in that its photographic accomplishments are the highlights of motion-picture photography to date, and finally great, because technically, it is a few steps ahead of anything that has been made in pictures before. ”
• The review describes the unfortunate state of Kane at the film’s conclusion, explaining that “he is broken, friendless and all he has left behind him are the palace and its grounds — which include a private zoo — his untold art treasures, and a string of papers actually controlled by banks. Not until the final scene is the mystery of “Rosebud” explained, and, though it is done with utter simplicity, it provides a chill and lump in anyone’s throat.”

Identify the traits that Charles Foster Kane possesses that makes him a tragic hero

Although Kane begins in humble surroundings, he eventually attains a “noble or heroic status” very early in life. This is part of the nature of an American tragedy, wherein the tragic hero works his up to achieving the American dream but eventually falls victim to the pitfalls and trappings of the wealthy lifestyle.

There is no moment in the film which exemplifies Kane’s hamartia and leads to his downfall, however, it is evident that he possesses a fatal flaw. Similar to King Lear, Kane desperately wishes to attain love and acceptance from others. He always desires more than he already has. This greed is Kane’s hamartia. He lusts for popularity among the American citizens and craves a successful marriage where both members of the relationship are successful, wealthy and infamous. This is evidenced by Kane having two wives over the course of the film. First, he marries the famous and highly affluent niece of a president. After the marriage ends messily, he chases a penniless but naive amateur singer whom Kane selfishly pushes to become famous but miserable at the benefit of his own reputation and status. Kane becomes greedy for a loving partner who never contends to his decisions or choices and when his first wife fails to please this wish, he decides to unfaithfully obtain another. He fails to uphold the key principles that he and his friend Leland established whilst first developing his Newspaper tycoon. He lies and dramatises his newspaper articles to ensure that they remain successful, tarnishing the images of others if it means that he will climb to power. This further indicates his greediness.

Kane demonstrates excessive pride or hubris throughout his entire journey. He places himself as greater than everyone else and desires that the poor but beautiful Susan Alexander be just as successful and famous as himself in order for the relationship to continue, as opposed to treasuring the qualities that she possesses.

Kane has a moment of recognition just before he dies. He peers into the snowglobe and remembers his days as a little boy playing with his sled ‘Rosebud’, which happens to be his final spoken word. He realises that he could have led a much better and happier life if he hadn’t chased the ‘American dream’ and had remained a common man.

Consider what the key idea of the film is.

I think the overall idea or message that the film gets across is that the wealth, social class and power that the American dream promises to be the ultimate goal of happiness is a myth. It teaches us that when chasing the American dream, it is more than likely that family, friendship, love and happiness will be sacrificed during that journey and Kane realises this only once it is too late.