Citizen Kane (1 Viewer)

[Lew Crippen]

At this point, there's no reason to lock the thread.

Thanks, Michael. Although I’ve not posted since the beginning of the thread (Seth types more quickly than I ), I have followed the dialogue with interest. Although I’m not an expert, I have some opinions about this movie. These opinions have been confirmed, refuted, challenged and supported by those who have commented with insight and passion as to the merits of Citizen Kane.
A pleasure to read considered opinions.

 

[teapot2001]

One note about the Sight & Sound list is that there seems to be no criteria for how each person's top ten list should be selected. One person might include movies he/she can watch repeatedly, another might include a movie from each of his/her favorite director, and so on. Furthermore, as a demonstration of how Citizen Kane could not truly be the best movie according to Sight & Sound, Citizen Kane could be ranked #10 on 100 lists, while Vertigo could be ranked #1 on 99 lists, and yet Kane would still be considered #1 overall.

I hope nothing has happened to the person whose post was removed concerning moderators' job. He had some valid points.

~T

 

[Al B. C]

Censorship rears it's ugly head. Too bad.

It's just a movie.

 

[Michael Reuben]

Account suspended. This thread is for discussion of Citizen Kane. If anyone wishes to comment on forum rules or administration, please do so consistent with HTF rules and Ron Epstein's August 20 announcement.
M.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Seth types more quickly than I

To paraphrase "the Wolf"...I talk fast and I type fast. If I'm curt with you it's because I'm trying to get a point out here. So type on, please, with sugar on top.
Or something like that.
Censorship, that's a laugh. Reminds me of a rowdy drunk being kicked out of a bar...all because they want to "supress" his opinions and censor him. (Just think Michael Keaton in Night Shift - "so they ban me for being too good of a blackjack player") Let's keep this stuff in perspective please. I thought Mike, I and others were having a nice discussion, dead horse or not.
Mike, I understand your need to discuss a point that has been much discussed if you have yet to feel satisfied. Of course, I can also understand why others would be bored with seeing the same old conversations. But I think the fact that the thread stayed open shows that being boring is not an offense in itself around here.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

That's odd that Micheal Reuben suspended his own account.
Anywho, I'm surprised that there are actually some people out there that don't like Citizen Kane. You could get a cheap thrill out of the movie, knowing that A. Rosebud supposedly = clitoris and B. It was the basis for a spoof in The Simpsons.
There is a man
A certain man
A certain man
A man whose name and face is known across the land.
It's Mr. Burns!!!

Sorry, had to lighten up the mood in here.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Not much different than somebody not liking a fine film such as Robert Wise's "The Haunting".
Crawdaddy

 

[teapot2001]

If anyone wishes to comment on forum rules or administration, please do so consistent with HTF rules and Ron Epstein's August 20 announcement.

I'm sorry.

~T

 

[Lew Crippen]

If I'm curt with you it's because I'm trying to get a point out here. So type on, please, with sugar on top.

Actually I mostly agree with your views, especially on Citizen Kane. Since you had already made the points, anything else would be a “What Seth said”, type of post. This Has some value at the beginning of a thread, but little later on.
And if talk more rapidly than me, you are very fast indeed.

 

[Brook K]

And going along with what Thi said about S&S voting requirements, there were voters like Jonathan Rosenbaum and at least one other individual I saw who's comments were something like "We all know Welles, Hitchcock, Kubrick and Kurosawa are great, so I don't feel it's necessary to vote for them. Here's 10 other films...."

 

[Rob Tomlin]

in my opinion, the reason Citizen Kane has been nearly unanimously regarded as the best motion picture ever created is because, all facets of the filmmaking process considered, Citizen Kane is perfect. No other film in my opinion has such a first-class combination of acting, story structure, cinematography, sound, and direction, to name a few. But despite this, like what has been mentioned before, it is ultimately the story that grabs the viewer, and if these "Best Movie" polls were changed to "Favorite Movie" polls, then I think it would be safe to say that Citizen Kane would not score quite as high.

Once again, I completely agree and couldn't have said it better! In fact, I have been trying to say exactly this (regarding "Favorite Movies" vs. "Best Movie") over in the polls section of this Forum. Some people believe that "favorite" and "best" movies should be the same thing. I don't, for the reasons succinctly stated by Rhett.

CK is a great movie, and I recognize it as such (the cinematography, acting, and the way the story is told is fantastic). The story itself, though, did not "grab me at the gut level" as stated by Michael. As such, Citizen Kane is not on my list of favorite movies, despite the fact that I can recognize it is a "great" movie.

The story in Lawrence of Arabia did grab me. There are plenty of people who find it boring (which is hard for me to imagine)! There really is no explanation for this other than personal taste.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Rob Tomlin said:

The story in Lawrence of Arabia did grab me. There are plenty of people who find it boring (which is hard for me to imagine)! There really is no explanation for this other than personal taste.

Really? People finding it boring? Paging george kaplan, paging george kaplan.....

A vast majority of lovers of Citizen Kane (99%) like it for it's cinematic brilliance. Then there's that 1% (that's me ) who like it for all the same reasons listed before plus one: the Animaniacs worked the title movie into a song. Fortunately, it was a kids' cartoon and nobody picked up on the very, very huge spoiler during the musical sequence.
This film, among others, was during my magical period stretch where I watched several giants of cinema, which include The French Connection, Chinatown, and Lawrence of Arabia.

 

[Vlad D]

You could get a cheap thrill out of the movie, knowing that A. Rosebud supposedly = clitoris

I guess you are referring to Roger Ebert's comment that there was a rumor that "Rosebud" was Hearst's nickname for a particular part of Marion Davies' anatomy.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Dome, your latest post here makes up for your thread about The Haunting.
Vlad: For the longest time I've been meaning to tell you I love that sig image of yours! (I have a strong fondness of the films of John Boorman.)

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Really? People finding it boring? Paging george kaplan, paging george kaplan.....

You just had to do it, didn't ya Dome! Had to go paging the number one anti-Lawrence of Arabia person on the HTF! But the guy loves Citizen Kane!?

 

[Jack Briggs]

Rob, you saw the 1989 restoration in Westwood, didn't you? It was impressive.

 

[Vlad D]

Thanks Jack. Excalibur is one of my favorite movies, and IMO Merlin is the most interesting of the characters. Unfortunately I am not familiar with any other John Boorman films.

 

[Rob Tomlin]

Rob, you saw the 1989 restoration in Westwood, didn't you? It was impressive.

No, unfortunately, I didn't! :frowning:
However, nothing (and I mean nothing) will keep me from the showing of Lawrence of Arabia at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater this winter!!! From what I understand, that is suppose to be one of the best screening facilities around!

 

[jeff lam]

Somehow I knew my Citezen Kane thread wouldn't make it very long. Anyway, My take on the film was: the life of a man who was brought up in wealth decided to control the modern day America by using the newspaper. I guess much like W.R. Hurst. After he dies a group of guys try to figure out if rosebud meant anything to him personally which they don't figure out. While they try to figure this out, the movie basically recaps Kane's life.

Quite a bit of talking and not much action or emotion involved IMO, quite dull for my tastes, but hey I'm young so I'm sure I don't have quite the appreciation for classics as much as others who grew up with them. If you do a poll I would guess most of the people who didn't like this movie were those who are younger and were brought up in a more modern day movie environment, so citizen kane doesn't do much for them. I would take a stab as to say that if this film was released in todays society as it was filmed then it wouldn't carry nearly the weight it does now. It would totally tank in the Box Office if a film like this was released in this modern era. Now I'm not talking rerelease, but if there was no CK back then and Welles decided to make this movie today as is.
All the weight this film carries is from the people who grew up loveing this film.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Not true at all, Jeff. Ask any student in film school. And CK "tanked" at the box office in 1941, but went on to assume the legendary status it possesses today.

You complain of no action. For many, and perhaps for you one day, the film is loaded with cerebral action.

Ever read any Shakespeare? Try Othello, with its emphasis on the "tragic, fatal flaw." Welles presents a very Othello-ian story in Citizen Kane.

Are you familiar with the concepts of subtext, symbolism, metaphor, and irony? They are at the heart of great art, as they are in Citizen Kane.

Read this thread. Read about the film. Read about film in general.