Why Citizen Kane is considered a classic

 

Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” is considered by many to be a classic, but why? Let us start but looking at the superb acting done by Orson Welles. Except the brief scene where Kane is a child, he plays every age of Kane, from when he was in his 20’s to when he was an old man at Xanadu. Despite Welles only being 26 at the time, many of the moments in ‘Citizen Kane’ were exemplified by the excellent make-up used to portray his age.

Another bit that makes this a classic is the innovative film techniques used in the film. For instance, near the beginning of the movie (and once again near the end) Welles uses an interesting camera technique that has the camera move across the roof of a building and dive in through the skylight. This kind of technique had not been seen before and may people were astounded by the usage of it.

The famous "Camera through Skylight" scene.

The “Rosebud” mystery further brought home the point of this movie being a classic. At the very beginning of the movie, Kane says a single word- “Rosebud”- as he is on his deathbed. This is then subtly referenced throughout the rest of the movie, as every time the man interviews someone from Kane’s past, it is brought up. When it is finally revealed what “Rosebud” is, it’s a real tearjerker in some respects, and the viewer knew that it couldn’t have been anything else.

The famous last word of Charles Foster Kane- "Rosebud"

 

Finally, the news reel at the beginning of the movie is marvelous. It has the viewer witnessing what has happened to Kane in the eyes of the people of the world before going into the specifics of the people involved. It begs the question; after the news reel is finished and you have watched the movie, do you really think that Charles Foster Kane was a bad person? A misguided person? It gives you the opportunity as the movie progresses to make your own decision on the matter.