Gary Stevens
English 52/ Film as Lit.
P. Jeffrey Clark
3-3-97
Citizen Kane
There are many movies that could be considered to be the
greatest movies of all time. The movie Citizen Kane is
considered by many to be the greatest movie of all time. What
makes it one of the greatest movies of all time. Can it be
how well Orson Wells uses Mise- en- scene; can it be the way
that the film was structured and organized. Maybe it is the
way that Orson Wells tells the confusing and interesting life
story of Charles Foster Kane. These are the questions that I
will take a look at, and hopefully possibly add a few details
of my own.
From the opening scene of the movie we are given great
detail on the purpose that the movie is supposed to serve.
The first thing that we are shown is a no trespassing sign
that is posted to a barbed wired fence.
I donÃÂt know how
others interpreted that sign and that fence; but I kind of
got the feeling that somebody didnÃÂtÃÂ want to be bothered. I
also immediately felt like I wasnÃÂt invited into the secluded
life of the person living in the house. The house is on a
great big hill completely secluded from the rest of human
life. In the opening scene we are also told that the person
living in the house is very well traveled. We know this
because in the yard there are Gondolas; Gondolas are boats
that come from Madrid. That also told me that he is pretty
wealthy if he can afford to have a secluded house and travel
a lot. The story of Charles Foster Kane begins when he is a
young child; the journey of the hero starts with...