The Rabid "Reel"

This is an old one, I know it. Citizen Kane was filmed back in 1941 (back when doctors came to your bedside) and here I am today watching it in 2009. With that said, it was recommended to me as coined "the greatest film of all time." Well who would I be to pass up the "greatest film of all time,"? And with that, let the reels chatter now on DVD!



So this nosy reporter considers Mr. Kane's death for "news" and meddles Kane's severed affiliations to uncover the mysterious significance behind the "wealthy" (understatement noted) "media magnates" last dying word, "Rosebud." This statement reverberates as majestically among film enthusiasts as that of "Redrum."

The story is told primarily through flashbacks, delivered with black and white lifestyle for the past and present. I soaked up this quote because I think I heard it before somewhere... "Old age, the only disease you don't look forward to being cured of." Later in the movie I recalled, but maybe you can be cured of gravity defiant slacks and ties, way too short for fashion to defend. Less arguably arresting of a phrase was in reference to Kane's second wife, describing her as "a cross section of the American public." No wonder she left him with his silver spoon in his throat. His classic reaction, could join an entire flick composed of a thousand destructive, house-destroying rage scenes accompanied by a discordant audio outfit.

Any Charles Kane meeting was no circle jerk. "The Inquirer" pencil pushers made yellow journalism glamourous with their success and slappy humor. Not so much for Lelands reaction to the opera scene. His nervous outlet was only to tear layered strips at the program in frustration with the self-evident lack of talent, which even she is aware of but is forced to pursue by Kane's domineering personality. Kane's pride is relayed also in his immaculate collections such as statues and furniture which is panned over at auction after his lonely death in his retired "palatial" real-estate.



So where did the connection wire up for the "Rosebud" explanation? Concluding the film, an antique from Kanes early childhood, a sled named rosebud, present during the seperation from him and his mother (insinuating this critical moment in his lifetime attributed to his personality development) burns as its fumes carry to the sky to join his dead soul. I guess what all I took from this was that not with all his power and money could he keep his loved ones from leaving him and that his need to be loved manifested in ego. "Mr. Kane was a man who got everything he wanted, and then lost it."