Citizen Kane and Movie Shots

Ah, yes. Citizen Kane. Often regarded as not only ONE of the best films of all time, but THE best film of all time, this movie was groundbreaking for it's time, often regarded as one of the greatest films to mark the 20th century. Unlike many other films of its time, this was an epic mystery-thriller tale that embodied almost a Great Gatsby-feel of wonder, romance, and timeless entity that marked it as unique for it's time period and defines why it has lasted so well in the modern world of cinema.

For myself, the most defining part of this movie were the shots. Many of the shots were custom-fitted for their scenes, trying to depict some sort of concrete ideology that would be cemented in what the film itself is trying to portray. Take the image to the left. This is a low shot, which typically is supposed to represent power and some idea of force within one character on screen. Almost NO movies in this time-period were able to create any sort of likeness to this symbolization of film and identity, and not only does Kane manage to pull it off, but the end result is gorgeous. By purposely cutting a hole in the floor and filming the scene from the ground up, the same sense of convening power for the man in the room is very, very prevalent and allows for the viewer to see the character in an almost poetic-sort of state of mind.

This same sort of metaphor is furthered in the famous 'Hall of Mirrors' scene to the right. There's a curious use of camera shots here, which combines a full-body depiction of Kane himself surrounded by an infinite number of reflections. The metaphor here is very interesting. In doing the shot this way and placing thousands and thousands of Kanes together next to each other, it furthers the spiritual development that Kane is slowly exposing himself to the world as the darker, truer human being that he is, as well as he is able to see himself in a new light. In doing so, lest he has let us believe for the entire film, Kane is not an invincible man, as the mirror, with its thousands and thousands of reflections, depicts him as weaker, as less significant, and stylistically speaking it drives further the emphasis that Kane is developing as a character.

Now, unfortunately, Citizen Kane's shots are not perfect. The one that stuck out to me was one of the first shots of the movie, where the audience is treated to an extreme close-up of Kane's lips uttering the important phrase 'Rosebud.' Now, this scene is really, really, really, really gross. No one wants to have to look at Kane's facial hair, regardless if the attention is on what he says. As a result, the audience is so distracted by just how disgusting his lips look and takes away from the true essence of what he's trying to say, especially because the 'Rosebud' phrase is the backbone of the movie's entire plot line. Personally, I think the better way to go about this particular part of the movie would be a close up of Kane's face, seeing his eyes stare into the background as the audience tries to understand his last reach of reality before Charles Foster Kane's life comes to an end.

One of the best examples of a close-up carrying the entire message of a movie is the scene of the yacht sinking in Martin Scorsese's masterpiece "The Wolf of Wall Street." As antihero Jordan Belfort comes to the realization that his life may be cut short, he desires to take the most powerful drug he owns in the last few moments of his life. As the camera focuses in on his face, the audience not only sees the desperation of how badly he wants the drugs, but also how his life, his crimes, his wife, his kids, his felonies, how everything is finally falling apart the way it was always supposed to in the end, and as a result, the total paranoia in his eyes is captured, and the sends the most powerful message of the film that inevitability cannot be escaped.

Overall, the most powerful part of Citizen Kane is its shots. While not all of them are perfect, they were revolutionary for the period and the decade, and it will continue to embody the film industry as a landmark for years and years to come.