Citizen Kane review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Citizen Kane review - Essay Example As he utters his last word, â€Å"Rosebud†, a journalist sets out on a journey of investigation to discover the meaning of Kane’s last word. It is through this exploration, including interviews with family members and associates, that we are told the life story of Kane, from childhood as a member of a poverty stricken family, through to his move into the newspaper industry as he develops a position of huge and influential power within the medium as his personal life disintegrates. One of the most innovative and important aspects of the movie is its narrative techniques, which I greatly admire. The story is told through a series of flashbacks, and not necessarily in chronological order. In addition to this, the story is entirely non-linear in that it is told through the perspective and points of view of multiple characters (Cook, 2004). Such characters include much older individuals who have different interpretations and opposing descriptions of the protagonist. This non-linear storytelling technique which incorporates multiple narrators, including unreliable narrators, was extremely innovative of the time. Though a few previous movies had attempted this to some degree, â€Å"Citizen Kane† exploited this technique and based the structure of the entire movie upon this strategy. This is an extremely effective device and very appropriate for this particular movie. Another aspect of the movie which has garnered much well deserved acclaim is the cinematography. Welles apparently attempted to create a new style of making films, by trying to combine several such techniques into one cohesive method. This resulted in many new and innovative aspects to the movies cinematography. For example, the director employed several low-angle shots and used deep focus extensively (Cook 96). This was extremely modern and new for the time period, as the limitations and typical settings of movies