citizen kane

As I continue to be edubucated by my film class, I have enjoyed seeing movies that I feel like I should see, but never got around to actually seeing. Case in point, CITIZEN KANE. I can't count how many times my dad suggested that we watch this movie on our Bexley Pizza Plus movie nights, and every single time I turned him down and suggested we watch things like BACK TO THE FUTURE 3 or THE NAVIGATOR. I guess we will add this transgression to the list of ways that I have fundamentally let my father down in life. At any rate, I finally got to see the film last night, and really enjoyed it. [SPOILER] I kind of already knew that Rosebud was a sled, but that didn't deter from the extraordinary journey that this film takes you on. And the biggest surprise? This movie is kind of about an opera singer. Who knew? (Perhaps that is why my father was always pushing this film....the evil stage parent he is!) Anyway, Orson Welles has made a fascinating film....and is totally yummy while doing it. (Did you actually think I was going to analyze this film using new-found wisdom from my course? Do you know me?) Well, he is yummy when he plays the young (and tall!), impassioned Kane. Things that really stuck out to me were the excellent use of shadow puppets, and seeing the same events from different perspectives. In particular, Susan's Chicago opera debut, and seeing it from the audience with Leland, and then from her perspective on stage. I was pleasantly surprised that Susan wasn't as horrible a singer as I had imagined her to be. I mean, obviously the music is out of her range, but she had a good technique. In terms of the music, some fun facts from IMDb are (Thanks, Robin!):

• The piece of music that Susan is repeatedly shown singing is "Una voce poco fa" from "Il barbiere di Siviglia" by Gioacchino Rossini. The character in the opera who sings it, Rosina, sings in this piece about the voice of an admirer she has just heard and how she plans to escape with him from her jealous and overbearing guardian.


• Susan's singing voice was provided by a professional opera singer who, under Orson Welles' direction, sang outside of her vocal range. She agreed to having her voice used this way on the condition that her identity never be revealed, fearing it would harm her career. She was Jean Forward of the San Francisco Opera.

All in all, this film more than lived up to the hype. As a contemporary audience, yes, some things seem dated and antiquated, but you can't escape from the compelling and well-produced story. It is simply mind-boggling that what is perhaps considered the greatest film ever made was a huge flop at the time of it's release.

Final thoughts: Brilliant film worth seeing. I look forward to looking at some of Welles' other works as well.

photo credit: http://www.theatlantic.com/