Citizen Kane 5 Star Movie
		Made: 1941 Cast: Orson Wells, Joseph Cotten, Everett Sloane, Dorothy Comingore Director: Orson Wells Screenwriter: Orson Wells, Herman Mankiewicz Cinematographer:  Gregg Toland Producer: Orson Wells "Memory is the greatest curse ever inflicted on the human                                               race."
	Xanadu - "The largest, most expensive monument man has built to himself since the pyramids." The movie tells the whole story at first: Kane's whole life in a nutshell of about three minutes. Then it tells the tale slower, over the course of two hours. This is an example of why so many people like this movie: technique. It was the first film to employ non-chronological storytelling, flashbacks, shadow lighting, credits at the end, crooked camera angles, and deep focus cinematography altogether in one blast. The character of Kane is based on William Randolph Hurst and his "yellow journalism" tactic. Kane's motto becomes something like, "You provide the pictures, I'll provide the war." Kane is often bored with money, though he really does improve his newspaper, The Inquirer. All of these attributes are seemingly instrumental to following the movie, but in actuality they are not. That is probably why Citizen Kane is so revered among critics: it is a completely different movie if you look at it in a different angle. It is a straight biography, it is the story of a downfall, it is the story of the trails of friendship, it is the story of well done art direction, etc. The whole movie can be a "how to make a movie creativly" instruction manual, but what's amazing is that it is so accessible. I think it's because overall, Citizen Kane IS a great story when it comes down to it, AND because it is told in a very interesting way.      For one, the acting is plucked from people Orson Wells knew from his theatre backgrounds: Everett Sloane plays Bernstien, Kane's assistant and Joseph Cotten plays Leland, his best friend; they both talk through the use of flashbacks as though they were the only ones who knew him well. Leland was obviously jealous of Kane's magnetic personality and Bernstien was just happy to be around all of the fuss. Still, both understood different aspects of Kane's personality, as did his wives. One wife is boring to Kane, one is depressed and attempts suicide. He has one affair that is eventually brought to light in one of the movie's best scenes, a battle of will's between two powerful politicians. Wells himself was a good an actor as a director, actually better. He shows such vulnrability and confidence between shades of his life that each one seems believable. Just watching the acting in this movie is a worthy experience on its own.      So, what is Rosebud, the often quoted object from the film? "Rosebud will probably turn out to be some very simple thing," says a character near the beginning of the movie. The fact is, it doesn't actually matter - it is a moot point and meaningless to the enjoyment of the film. Don't get me wrong: Rosebud stands for something, but to each his/her own interpretation. For such high concepts, Citizen Kane is a pretty accessible film. It is possible just to enjoy it without having such exaggerated expectations of "best movie ever made...period!!!!" The mystery aspect of Rosebud comes from the dialogue, which is immensely quotable: ""He just wanted love, but he had none to give." "I run a couple of newspapers, what do you do?""I don't know what a gentlemen is!" It could go on all day. Is this the best movie ever made? Who's to say? It's not my absolute favorite....except for some days, when it is.      In the end, it is the subtle things make Kane great. I hope this review is kind of logical; It is hard to actually talk about a movie that so much has already been said about, and so much has been interpreted from. The fact is, every movie made today was influenced in some way by Citizen Kane: the rock music equivalent would be a band like The Rolling Stones. Maybe that is strange to say, I don't know. I like this movie because the story is a very moving one, and because you catch something new every time. The actors are having fun up there on the screen, you can see it in their faces! Is it intimidating that Wells stared, produced, co-wrote, and directed this at the age of 25? Well, yeah. But I am glad he did it; it has given me many, many new thoughts on how people think and how life can have it's ups and downs. My personal favorite scene: the crazy bird that screams in between scene changes as its silhouette outlines the screen for a split second. Or maybe any scene with deep black and white shadows and strange, flashes of light. It is really impossible to pick, you see tomorrow I'll have a different view of it all. Citizen Kane, in every sense of the phrase, makes the unimaginable seem possible.