Replies

First of all, what you have to know about Citizen Kane is this: it was a snarky little liberal putdown of a supposedly conservative American icon [although, since it predates Robert Taft and most of what movement conservatives regard as the birth of conservatism, it's hard to see how William Randolph Hearst would qualify; he was a big business mogul, and he wasn't a liberal, so... close enough for Hollywood.]

Second thing you have to know is that it ends with one of the foulest inside jokes in the history of cinema. The "Rosebud" thing really didn't refer to a sled, at all. Somehow Orson Welles got the information that William Randolph Hearst's pet name for his wife's clitoris was "rosebud." He decided he would slip it into the film in a different guise and then spread the inside gossip all over town. Naturally, the Hollywood insiders were laughing uproariously up their sleeves over the conclusion of the film. That level of nastiness tells you all you need to know about the "genius" Orson Welles.

I defy anyone to sit through any of his films. They're awful. Touch of Evil is actually worse than Plan 9 From Outer Space.

Just...WOW.

I didn’t know that.

And I thought I knew a lot about “Film”.

I will never look at that movie the same way again. Yeesh!

First of all, what you have to know about Citizen Kane is this: it was a snarky little liberal putdown of a supposedly conservative American icon ...

It was more of a film-maker's movie. The story starts to look pretty pat and contrived -- the millionaire boy who couldn't find happiness. The point was more the way it was told on screen.