{"id":4457,"date":"2012-03-23T12:32:04","date_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4457"},"modified":"2012-03-23T12:32:04","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T16:32:04","slug":"br-citizen-kane-1941","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4457","title":{"rendered":"BR: Citizen Kane (1941)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Return to: <\/strong>Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>C<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Film: Excellent\/ DVD Transfer: Excellent\/ DVD Extras: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label: Warner Home Video\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: January 10, 2012<\/p>\n

Genre: Drama \/ Satire<\/p>\n

Synopsis: An investigative journalist tries to find the meaning behind “rosebud” – the last word uttered by a bloated, possessive media tycoon.<\/p>\n

Special Features: \u00a0Disc 1<\/strong>: 2011 1080p HD transfer + Standard Definition Extras from 2001 DVD release featuring Newsreel of 1941 premiere (1:08) \/ Audio Commentary #1: director Peter Bogdanovich \/ \/ Audio Commentary #2: film critic Roger Ebert \/ 2001 interview with actress Ruth Warrick (5:40) \/ 1994 interview with editor Robert Wise (3:04) \/ 2 Interactive Making-of Galleries: The Production — Storyboards + Call Sheets + Stills (with commentary by Roger Ebert) (15:01); Post-Production — Deleted Scenes + Ad Campaign + Press Book + Opening Night (5:02) \/ Thearrical Trailer \/ 52-page colour Blu-ray making-of book<\/p>\n

Disc 2<\/strong>: 1996 documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane [M](SD)<\/div>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Billed by heady critics as the \u2018greates film ever made\u2019 for several decades, it\u2019s tough for newcomers to approach Orson Welles\u2019 film debut (as star, co-writer, director, producer, if not auteur supreme<\/em>) with virgin eyes when there\u2019s so much essay-long praise out there, ramping up expectations to a level where the film may, upon first viewing, disappoint; perhaps what\u2019s necessary for less than impressed viewers is to let a little time pass to allow Kane<\/strong> to sink in before making a full decision on whether it\u2019s really all that \u201cterrific\u201d or just a classic that\u2019s starting to show its age.<\/p>\n

From the pro-Kane<\/strong> camp, Welles\u2019 film debut is<\/em> a brilliant work, wrought from the boundless energy of its 25 year old prot\u00e9g\u00e9 in conjunction with wry, veteran \u00a0co-screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Dinner at Eight<\/strong>), and a superb team of actors. It\u2019s also an example of a seamless collaboration between a director and cinematographer: veteran Gregg Toland made a point of working with young snots because by not knowing the rules, young directors would challenge him to better his<\/em> craft.<\/p>\n

Welles, then a wonder boy from the stage and radio, enjoyed an astonishing film contract with studio RKO, in which he had full creative control as long as he stayed within the roughly $1 million budget range. The film did enjoy positive reviews from critics, but a boycott by William Randolph Hearst\u2019s vast media empire meant Kane<\/strong> got virtually no ads or media coverage, and\u00a0 played in mostly indie cinemas, earning less and getting far less critical attention. While it did win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, it wasn\u2019t regarded by RKO as a box office hit, putting more demands on Welles to deliver a commercial hit in his second directorial venture (which, in The Magnificent Ambersons<\/strong>, turned out to be a career killer).<\/p>\n

Kane<\/strong>\u2019s story is ultimately an amalgam of several real-life egotists \u2013 Hearst (who maintained a liaison with the much younger showgirl \/ actress Marion Davies), industrialist Samuel Insull <\/a>(who built an opera house to reportedly showcase his equally young wife), and Welles himself – but Hearst was so offended by the script\u2019s treatment of the Davies-inspired character (untalented singer Susan Alexander) that he instituted a media boycott which did affect Kane<\/strong>\u2019s chances at reaching the masses and making a profit.<\/p>\n

Even with no knowledge of its history or Hearst, Kane<\/strong> to present day audiences should feel remarkably contemporary, because Kane<\/strong>, in every respect, is a cool, assured satire of a media baron, using filmmaking techniques that feel very modern.<\/p>\n

On one level, he film offers a straightforward journalistic investigation of a media baron\u2019s life as revealed through the reminiscences of associates, friends, and ex-wife – each theorizing on the meaning of the deceased\u2019s last word, \u201crosebud.\u201d<\/p>\n

On another, it\u2019s a wry satire using news gathering techniques to build a story of a baron\u2019s life from interviews, film clips, sound bites, and photos, ordered in a complex structure that flips between flashbacks and flash-forwards (heavily used in TV\u2019s Lost<\/strong>), and present day bridge material.<\/p>\n

Welles was very<\/em> media-savvy \u2013 his infamous 1938 War of the Worlds<\/a> <\/strong>[M<\/a>] radio drama was designed to switch into a faux news broadcast at the precise time fans of a rival program on NBC were likely to channel surf during a music interlude – and Kane<\/strong> is filled with a mish-mash of sometimes dizzying sounds and images that feel like a more expanded multimedia style already practiced by Welles in his radio plays with his Mercury Theatre company.<\/p>\n

With cinematographer Toland, the two brilliant minds essentially went to town and experimented with amazing deep focus shots, long takes, and camera moves which broke through walls, furniture, and craned up several stories without any cuts. Welles was the equivalent of a visionary music video director whose first crack at feature filmmaking was utterly groundbreaking because he did things he thought were normal to him, and was insulated to experiment because of his rich contract.<\/p>\n

The film begins with a mysterious death, smash cuts to a brutal satire of period newsreels that literally unspools to a news conference, and an investigative reporter who\u2019s sent into the big world in search of the meaning of a mighty dead man\u2019s last word. The newsreel immediately tells the audience who the main characters are, outlines Kane\u2019s professional accomplishments and personal quirks, his political aspirations, and his rivals, and what ultimately emerges is a tragic tale of a trouble kid who lost his humanity through wealth and an addiction to acquiring and controlling things, never to reconcile his life with the fleeting pure memories of his busted up childhood.<\/p>\n

Often overlooked by critics is the power of Welles\u2019 own performance, playing a handsome (and slender) twentysomething Kane straight into his senior years (wearing thoroughly believable makeup), and the supporting cast of largely radio actors from Welles\u2019 Mercury Theatre making their silver screen debut. Welles and Mankiewicz\u2019s script is letter perfect, filled with quotable lines and some superb dramatic exchanges, and the final shot which reveals the meaning of \u201crosebud\u201d is supremely powerful, being a blatant icon of lost youth and innocence literally roasting onscreen in painful detail.<\/p>\n

Bernard Herrmann\u2019s score is inventive for its brooding sound and strategic positioning, either in simple scene transitions, overtly wry stabs, or the recurring main theme which eventually develops into a full powerful statement at the very end. As Peter Bogdanovich and Roger Ebert point out in their separate (and quite distinct) commentary tracks (each ported over from the 2001 DVD), Herrmann was still using scoring skills from his radio work, and in this case it matched Welles\u2019 overlapping dialogue and fast scene transitions & time jumps.<\/p>\n

Kane<\/strong> is easily cited as a key American film which freed filmmakers to have fun, breaking up and fighting against conventions and locked storytelling techniques by aiming for more complex approaches, and raising the sophistication of a sound mix and complex visual layers in singular shots. The newsreel, which essentially tells us Kane\u2019s life before the film\u2019s investigative time-flipping body, was aped by James Cameron in Titanic<\/strong> (via an animated montage of the ship\u2019s sinking before the film\u2019s lengthy flashbacks); and the investigative episodes that reveal details of the lead character\u2019s mysterious life and personal conflicts can be found in A-level and Z-level fodder, such as the sleazy TV movie Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story<\/strong> (1992).<\/p>\n

Equally unique are the main and end credits: stark B&W text over black at the silent beginning; and all cast & crew credits reserved for the very end, with main personnel introduced in little visual vignettes underscored by Welles\u2019 own voice.<\/p>\n

Maligned during its initial theatrical run, Kane<\/strong> achieved a renaissance during the fifties during its 1956 re-release when it was re-appraised\u00a0 by a new generation of critics, and the tragedy is that by then, Welles, as an auteur<\/em>, was essentially unbankable (yet seemingly available as an actor for any international production); Touch of Evil<\/strong> (1958) would be his final studio picture, released in a re-edited version once again disapproved by Welles.<\/p>\n

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The 2011 Blu-ray<\/strong><\/p>\n

Warner Home Video offers up a new HD transfer of the film in striking 1080p, showing off the stark cinematography and multiple levels of grey and dim darkness. Grain hasn\u2019t been scrubbed clean, and the mono sound mix sounds rich and dynamic in its uncompressed form.<\/p>\n

The standard def extras from the prior 2001 2-disc DVD set are ported over, and they include the aforementioned separate commentaries by Bogdanovich and film critic Ebert, additional interviews with actress Ruth Warrick and editor Robert Wise, a newsreel of the film\u2019s premiere, and a stills gallery.<\/p>\n

Bogdanovich\u2019s long friendship with Welles – spanning a cool decade and a half, up until Welles\u2019 death in 1985 \u2013 offers up a few anecdotes and some straight observations of Welles\u2019 trademark style, but unfortunately Bogdanovich does a Richard Schickel, speaking only sporadically, and often in little bits and pieces when he should be talking in greater detail. Ebert, however, fills the void with a consistently balanced, critical, and historical track, and his tone is much more animated, guaranteeing listeners aren\u2019t likely to nod off, as can happen with Bogdanovich\u2019s rather monotone delivery and dead pauses.<\/p>\n

Ebert also provides additional commentary over a stills gallery \u2013 one of several archives featuring surviving documents from the film\u2019s production history. Storyboards cover unfilmed scenes, and there are stills from a filmed but deleted \u201cbrothel\u201d scene, including a studio letter that essentially says to Welles \u2018What the Hell were you thinking? There\u2019s a Production Code in force!\u2019<\/p>\n

Equally amusing are the congratulatory letters, telegrams, and memos from the film\u2019s 1941 release. Several fans voice their preference in paying road show pricing for a film they regard as tops, and one writer urges RKO \u2018not to let Welles go\u2019 as he\u2019s a valuable asset.<\/p>\n

The publicity gallery is also amusing for the absurd catch-phrases and keywords drummed up by the P.R. department about the character of Kane (\u201che\u2019s a heel!\u201d), and as was typical of the decade, graphic art fixates on giant actor heads floating over a coloured background, or the heads of Kane\u2019s women angled together like some demon. The original Kane poster was never attractive \u2013 Welles looks like Gulliver the farmer, standing proud & tall, towering above mini-people below \u2013 but more odd is the alternate campaign which features a giant Kane head over which a giant \u201cK\u201d painted on one side.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s trailer follows Welles\u2019 end credits, with an unseen Welles speaking into a suspended mic, and a montage of the actors clearly shot during rehearsal, prior to costume and hair changes. Tied to the ad campaign are individual vignettes of the actors speaking catch-phrases into telephones, and although the trailer was meant to be mischievous and teasing, it still doesn\u2019t give enough info on what the film was about; it seems the controversy surrounding the Kane-Hearst connection after filming may have pushed the P.R. marketing department into designing a campaign that was too vague \u2013 puzzling audiences rather than luring them in.<\/p>\n

Citizen Kane<\/strong> is available as a standalone Blu-ray book set (featuring Kane<\/strong> and The Battle Over Citizen Kane<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] documentary from 1996), and as part of Warner Home Video\u2019s Citizen Kane 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector\u2019s Edition on DVD and Blu-ray, which includes the HBO teleplay RKO 281<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1999), and several unique extras.<\/p>\n

In addition to a separately bound version of the making off Blu-ray book, there\u2019s a folder featuring the \u201crosebud\u201d logo contains 5 poster reproductions, reproductions of the film\u2019s budget, Schwab\u2019s Pharmacy receipts, deal & inter-office memos, sample press releases, a Box Office Blue Ribbon Award certificate, and Welles\u2019 dry yet \u2018emphatic denial\u2019 that Kane is based pr inspired in any way by Hearst\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

The folder\u2019s second half is filled with a bound reproduction of the colour souvenir program where Welles\u2019 name is mentioned on every page (\u201cThe Amazing Mr. Welles,\u201d \u201cMan of Endless Surprises,\u201d \u201cMaster of Make-Up\u201d \u201cAuthor \u2013 Director \u2013 Producer \u2013 Star: The Four-Most Personality of Motion Pictures!\u201d) and co-write Mankiewicz appears, due to contractual billing, once, proving studios may not have like the auteur persona, but it often proved too easy to indulge when trying to promote a controversial figure.<\/p>\n

In the fall of 2011, Welles\u2019 Magnificent Ambersons<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1942) was briefly bundled in an exclusive Amazon Citizen Kane<\/strong> deal, but is available separately.<\/p>\n

Kane<\/strong> has also had several incarnations on home video that are worth noting due to the unique extras not carried over for the WHV Blu-ray. Criterion released the film in 1984 and 1991 on laserdisc, with the former featuring storyboards and a frame-by-frame history of the production, and the latter<\/a> loaded with storyboards, a \u201cLegacy of Citizen Kane\u201d interactive documentary that featured 3 mins. interviews with 20+ contemporary filmmakers regarding their thoughts on the film, a visual essay on Welles\u2019 aborted production of Heart of Darkness<\/strong> which was intended as his debut film, and Hearts of Age<\/strong> (1934), the short film made by small theatre group with Welles having a hand in the acting and directing.<\/p>\n

A 1985 Image laserdisc featured a commentary by Paul Mandell, but the special feature was dropped from the 1991 reissue. 1991 also offered up a 50th Anniversary VHS set via Turner, containing the \u201cLegacy of Citizen Kane\u201d doc, plus a poster, a 244 page anniversary book by Harlan Lebo, reproductions of stills and publicity materials, and a bound hardcopy of the Mankiewicz-Welles screenplay. The script was also reproduced in book form as The Citizen Kane Book<\/strong>, featuring Pauline Kael\u2019s famous essay \u201cRaising Kane<\/a>.\u201d (For more details on the video releases of additional Welles films, visit Wellesnet<\/a>).<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References<\/em>:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Amazon Links & KQEK.com’s Media Store:<\/em><\/p>\n

Amazon.ca<\/a> —– Amazon.com<\/a> —– Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0C<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to: Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/ C . Film: Excellent\/ DVD Transfer: Excellent\/ DVD Extras: Excellent Label: Warner Home Video\/ Region: All \/\u00a0Released: January 10, 2012 Genre: Drama \/ Satire Synopsis: An investigative journalist tries to find the meaning behind “rosebud” – the last word uttered by a bloated, possessive media tycoon. Special […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[97,1145,435,245],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-19T","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4457"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4510,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4457\/revisions\/4510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}