Citizen Cane

Title: Citizen Cane
Year: 1941
Director: Orson Wells
Lead: Orson Wells
Rated: PG

After the death of a publishing tycoon, a reporter struggles to find out the meaning of his final word.

This film is ranked on AFI's top 100 films as number 1. Let me say, it absolutely lived up to that ranking. everything about this movie was perfect, every shot was perfect, Orson Wells did not cut one corner with this movie. The way he aged in the movie was so believable. I specifically loved the meaning of almost every shot, like the shot where the reporter is interviewing one of Kane's former colleagues, and he starts reflecting on his life, and the shot pans so you can see the mans reflection in his desk along with his face. Or when Kane and another one of his colleagues are talking in his office, and the camera shoots from below to make Kane look more threatening and ominous, one of my favourites is the montage that shows Kane with one of his wives, and it shows them growing apart, at the begining they are sitting close to eachother at the table, and each shot they move further and further away until the end, they are on opposite sides of eachother and she is reading Kane's rival newspaper, Wells is brilliant. This film really shows that no matter how much money you have and whatever you buy, its the little things in life that matter. It won an Oscar for best writing. This film is not only one of the greatest American films ever made, but it also influenced a song written by The White Stripes, the song is titled "Union Forever" and includes lines and melodies from the film, I was watching the movie and I started hearing things that sounded oddly familiar to the Stripes song, really cool stuff... 10 out of 10 easy....