International Cinema Festival of India

The film, Citizen Kane, was released during 1941. Directed by the legendary Orson Welles, who also stars in it, the film is portrayed as an American drama. Today still, the film industry considers ‘CK’ to be one of the best films ever made. It is especially noted for innovative cinematography, its music and the narration technique.

Prior to the making of CK, Orson Welles had been enjoying personal acclaim after his success with the Mercury Players. In 1938 his controversial radio show, War of the Worlds, caught the attention of Hollywood. The film studio, RKO Pictures, subsequently signed a contract with Welles in 1939.

Although he was completely ‘untried’ as a film director, he was given a free hand to develop a story, pick the crew and cast, and even given ‘final cut’ privilege. After two disastrous first attempts, Welles and Herman Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay for CK.

Shooting took place in 1940, and RKO released it in 1941. It received no less than 9 nominations in the ensuing Academy Awards. To the delight of Orson Welles and Mankiewicz, CK received the award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay).

The movie is a roman a clef. This means that it describes real people and real life behind the disguise of fiction. CK scrutinizes the life of Charles Kane based on publishing magnate, William Randolph Hearst. It also studies the life of Welles himself.

Kane started his career in the newspaper publishing industry because he had a passion for journalism. However, over the years, this passion turned into a relentless quest for power. The film is narrated with the use of flashbacks. The story is unfurled through the research of a reporter trying to solve the mystery surrounding Kane’s dying word which was simply ‘Rosebud’.

Although the movie was critically acclaimed, it was a box office disaster. It faded into oblivion for some years until French movie critics declared it to be outstanding. This sparked new interest and CK enjoyed a major revival in America during 1956. As before, critics agreed that indeed it was ‘the greatest film of all time’. It remained on leading film polls for another 50 years.

Historians and film students saw the cinematography as an innovative new way to make films. Most significant was the protracted use of deep focus. In most scenes, the foreground, background and everything in between, is in focus. Gregg Toland, the cinematographer, achieved this by experimenting with lenses and lights.

Another notable element of the film was the way which low angle film shots were used. Ceilings are visibly seen in the background of numerous scenes. At that time, all movies were filmed on sound stages. It was not possible to show a ceiling because sound stages had no ceilings. So how was it done in CK?

The crew of Citizen Kane achieved this by draping muslin on the top of the set to create the effect of a room with a ceiling. The microphones were hidden on top of the muslin. Trenches were dug in the floor so that low angle shots could be used in the scene where Kane and Leland meet when after the elections. The role of Kane was played by Welles.

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