Now as you have probably gathered, I love movies, does not matter to me if its Silent cinema, War movies, Sci-fi, Art-House or modern cinema. I will watch anything. People always ask me what my favorite movie is of all time?, my reply is Citizen Kane, this is usually met by “why not something modern” or “Your just going along with all critics with that choice”. So what is it that makes me adore this movie so much and makes me go back to it time and again?.

The man himself Orson Welles was only 25 when he started making this film, that is as the writer, director and the star, at 25 that is one hell of an amazing thing to do, now I don’t know about you but I certainly couldn’t do that at 25. The film has a brilliant narrative that was so revolutionary for the time. It starts with a news reel telling us the story of this Charles Foster Kane and what he did and accomplished in his life.. and the scandals. This is the way of Orson Welles telling us what is in store for us and this enigmatic figure of a man he has created. The character Kane lives in his own secluded mansion called Xanadu. Xanadu is showing the perfect metaphor of what this man Kane is, Dark, Secluded and mysterious. The narrative i refer too is “ROSEBUD”, Rosebud is Kane’s last word on his death bed, he whispers it in his last breath, a news reel reporter is hired to find out who/what was Kane’s rosebud. We finally find out at the end, Orson Welles is pure genius when he lets us discover who/what is Rosebud, just like that Ghostly Whisper at the start, like a metaphorical whisper, sort of paying homage to the start its wonderfully done.

The direction and camera work was amazing for a first time director, Welles goes for low angles, high angles and even having the camera zoom in through a sky light and back again. Its little touches like this that make me awe at the film. Welles could of used a cast of well know actors but no….. he brought in fellow radio stars like Joseph Cotten, who would go on to have a terrific career in the movies. The narrative, use of camera, the cast, the story and Orson himself stealing the show as Kane, whom has this sort of self cockiness that suits the character he has created. All these just help me love this film so much, yes there is probably better films out there, but every time I watch this film I take something different away from it. I would love to know if anybody else likes this film, or, what your favorite film is and what you like about it so much. Thanks for reading and keep listening to the brilliant shows these guys do.