Indeed, many critics' faves are much more of an academic exercise to get out of the way, rather than simply being the movies they once were, something folks would go to see at the theater on a Saturday night in hopes of getting a handjob later. So the best way to appreciate Kane is to just dispense with all the supposed "importance" and "influence," don't bother yourself with how it "reinvented cinema as we know it," and just take in the movie. 'Cause it's a good one. That Orson Welles was in his mid-20s when he made the film makes it all the more amazing—what did you do in your mid-20s, asshole, bang your first Asian? (?) In any event, Welles's audacity is backed up by his pure sense of scope, and he had great collaborators (cinematographer Gregg Toland, editor Robert Wise, screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz) to help him achieve something of real vision. To say nothing of the no-slackers-here cast, bolstered by Joseph Cotten and Everett Sloane … everyone, though theater-trained, really hits the mark on film. What I never see anyone mention in discussing CK is that it is one of the most surprisingly emotional "old movies" you'll encounter … when I think of films from 1941, I think of war movies, or scenery-chomping would-be leading men and starlets, or, in some cases, real classics that nevertheless have that "museum" quality. Kane is actually not hard to relate to even more than 50 years later, mostly because the deep emotionality of it is so fully human. The photography is really the star of the show (though Welles himself dominates each scene completely), with brilliant segues and cross-cuts that make even The Wizard of Oz (released only two years earlier) seem utterly conservative. It's still a startling film visually, whether or not you believe it to be "the best" or whatever. As for the plot, cast, pace, etc, who cares what I say? Go see Citizen Kane and take it in, like a good bottle of Ernest & Julio Gallo wine drunk by late-period Orson in a desperate attempt to suppress the ever-present reality that he never did anything better. In your case, however (and mine), we'll never do anything as good to begin with.
Review by |