Why, in your view do you think Citizen Kane is regularly cited by critics as "The Greatest Movie Ever Made"?

Citizen Kane is believed to be “the greatest movie ever made” for countless reasons. These consist of the cinematography, editing and lighting techniques used in the film. One of the biggest reasons this film was so spectacular at the time and remains a significant part of film history is because Orson Welles created many techniques that were entirely new for that era of film and are still being used today. Since there were so many new things that had never been seen on screen, that was a massive part of why so many people wanted to watch this masterpiece.

The first reason this was a highly viewed film is because of its use of cinematography. One revolutionary shot that made the film stand out to critics was the scene of young Charles playing outside in the snow while his parents were discussing his new living situation. In this scene, a long continuous tracking shot was used to show the movement of the characters and allowed for an unbroken line of dialogue, giving a sense of realism to the movie, which was enticing for the audience. This took a lot of planning as they had to ensure that the blocking of the characters and props, such as the table, was not in the way of the camera. This scene also portrayed a deep focus allowing the audience, for the first time, to be able to choose where to look rather than the director telling them what to look at. This was similar to going to a play, which was an extraordinary thing to watch at the time.

the film, which was new to the film industry. Orson Welles did this to communicate the emotions and status of a character in a scene. For example, a low angle shows that Kane is an influential figure who looks down on others. This shows the bildungsroman genre as we see him grow from a frail child to someone who now has power and status.

Secondly, this is considered a fantastic film because of its lighting skills. Orson Welles frequently used cameo lighting. In fact, throughout the film, Welles uses lighting to give his settings dynamic gradients and compelling shadows. The dim and mysterious lighting played a massive role in authenticating Kane’s true egocentric and materialistic personality. Simply put, the high contrast light and dark style affect the scene’s composition. Chiaroscuro lighting is one way to create a three-dimensional quality on a two-dimensional plane, with the pools of darkness contrasting with pools of light.

Another reason why this movie is a part of the greats is because of its use of storytelling. Citizen Kane also uses a non-linear narrative structure. The film is told through the perspectives and memories of people in his life using flashbacks. This is another reason which adds to the film’s intrigue, as the audience is trying to piece together his life to figure out the big question “what/who is rosebud”.

Lastly, Citizen Kane’s editing created an excellent production. The film was the first to use “the wipe” editing technique. This editing technique is used continually to overlap the front pages of newspapers with Susan’s opera performances. This shows the passing of time and exposes the relationship between Kane and Susan, as it is evident that he is forcing her to do as many shows as humanly possible even though it’s not what she wants.

However, the most effective editing technique was used at the very beginning of the movie when the newsreel played. This is because it was typical of the time that it was filmed to have a newsreel before the movies. This establishes the time in which the movie is set and also intrigues the audience to learn about a character as though they are authentic, creating a sense of false reality and incising the audience even more.

In conclusion, Welles was a fantastic director. He took every aspect of a great film and created a Frankenstein of techniques to create the perfect movie possible.