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Few films in the history of cinema carry the same aura of reverence, myth, and influence as Citizen Kane. Released in 1941, directed by and starring a 25-year-old Orson Welles in his feature film debut, it has since been enshrined as one of the greatest—if not the greatest—films ever made. For decades it topped critics’ polls, including the Sight & Sound decennial surveys, and it remains a standard against which cinematic innovation is measured. But what makes Citizen Kane so exceptional, and why does it continue to matter to audiences nearly a century later?
This review will explore the film’s artistry, historical context, technical achievements, thematic depth, and enduring legacy—without revealing specific plot details or spoiling its famous narrative twists.
The Historical Context
To fully appreciate Citizen Kane, one must first understand the cinematic landscape into which it was released. The 1930s and early 1940s were dominated by the Hollywood studio system, with films often adhering to classical conventions of storytelling, editing, and cinematography. While there were experiments with sound, camera movement, and visual style, most mainstream productions favored safe, linear narratives and a polished but traditional aesthetic.
Into this system walked Orson Welles—a wunderkind from the worlds of theatre and radio. By 1938, Welles had already earned national notoriety with his War of the Worlds radio broadcast, which famously caused panic among listeners who mistook fiction for news. His Mercury Theatre productions were bold, experimental, and infused with modernist sensibilities. When RKO Pictures offered him an unprecedented contract that granted near-total creative control, Welles seized the opportunity to push cinema into new territory.
Citizen Kane emerged from that opportunity, and from the very start, it was clear that this was not a conventional studio picture. Welles assembled a team of collaborators—most notably cinematographer Gregg Toland—who were eager to experiment with techniques rarely attempted in Hollywood. The result was a film that shattered assumptions about what cinema could look like, how stories could be told, and how images could evoke meaning.
Visual Innovation and Cinematic Language
Perhaps the most enduring reputation of Citizen Kane lies in its visual daring. Gregg Toland’s cinematography, working in close collaboration with Welles, introduced or perfected techniques that changed filmmaking forever.
Deep Focus Photography
The film is famous for its use of deep focus, a technique where objects in the foreground, middle ground, and background remain simultaneously in sharp focus. This allowed for complex compositions where multiple layers of action could occur in a single shot, demanding the viewer’s attention across the entire frame. It gave cinema a new depth—literally and figuratively—and influenced generations of directors from Kurosawa to Spielberg.
Low-Angle Shots
Welles and Toland frequently employed low-angle shots, sometimes so low that the studio’s ceilings had to be constructed with removable panels or actual ceilings had to be filmed (a rarity in Hollywood at the time). These angles emphasized power, dominance, and perspective, making characters loom larger than life. They also conveyed psychological depth and thematic resonance, amplifying the sense of grandeur and decline central to the film’s story.
Lighting and Shadows
Drawing from the traditions of German Expressionism, Citizen Kane uses chiaroscuro lighting—strong contrasts between light and dark—to create atmosphere and symbolism. Rooms are sometimes cavernous, with shadows consuming characters, while at other times, the lighting emphasizes isolation or moral ambiguity. It is a style that foreshadowed the film noir movement of the 1940s.
Innovative Transitions
The editing, overseen by Robert Wise (who later became a renowned director in his own right), features striking dissolves, montages, and visual transitions that compress time and space in groundbreaking ways. Storytelling is advanced not only through dialogue but through visual cues, symbolic imagery, and rhythmic montage.
Together, these visual innovations did more than dazzle the eye; they expanded the grammar of cinema, proving that films could communicate complex ideas through form as much as through content.
Narrative Structure
Without giving away plot details, it’s safe to say that Citizen Kane challenged conventional Hollywood storytelling. At a time when most films followed linear, chronological narratives, Welles opted for a fragmented, multi-perspective structure. The story unfolds through recollections, documents, and shifting viewpoints, creating a mosaic of impressions rather than a single, authoritative account.
This approach invited audiences to question the reliability of narration, the subjectivity of memory, and the impossibility of fully knowing another person. Decades later, filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon), Quentin Tarantino, and Christopher Nolan would experiment with similar non-linear and multi-perspective techniques, but Welles set the precedent.
The structure also makes the film endlessly rewatchable. Each viewing reveals new layers, subtle foreshadowing, and thematic echoes that may not be evident the first time. In this sense, Citizen Kane rewards patience, attention, and intellectual curiosity.
Themes and Ideas
Though its narrative revolves around the life of a wealthy and powerful individual, Citizen Kane is less about material success and more about the universal human condition. Some of its core themes include:
The Elusiveness of Truth: The film questions whether a single word, moment, or object can encapsulate a person’s life. It suggests that human identity is too complex, too contradictory, to be reduced to one definitive meaning.
Power and Isolation: Wealth, influence, and ambition are depicted as double-edged swords. The higher one climbs, the more fragile personal connections may become. The film’s visual language often emphasizes loneliness within grandeur.
Memory and Perspective: By showing the protagonist’s life through different lenses, the film highlights how memory is selective and subjective. What one person sees as generosity, another may view as manipulation; what one recalls as love, another may recall as control.
The American Dream: Beneath the personal story lies a broader reflection on American culture—its promise, its ambition, and its disillusionments. The film interrogates whether success truly brings fulfillment or if it leaves behind emptiness.
These themes remain timeless, resonating as strongly today as they did in 1941.
Performances
While Orson Welles often receives the lion’s share of praise for directing, writing, and starring, the ensemble cast deserves equal recognition. Many were members of Welles’s Mercury Theatre company, and their performances carry a theatrical intensity balanced with cinematic subtlety.
Orson Welles (as the central figure): Welles’s performance is extraordinary not only for its emotional range but also for its physical transformation. With the aid of groundbreaking makeup techniques, he convincingly portrays his character across decades of life, from youth to old age. His charisma, arrogance, vulnerability, and complexity make the role unforgettable.
Joseph Cotten: In one of his earliest film roles, Cotten brings warmth, intelligence, and gravitas. His later career in Hollywood and abroad would showcase his versatility, but here he demonstrates a nuanced balance between loyalty and disillusionment.
Dorothy Comingore, Everett Sloane, George Coulouris, and others: The supporting cast enrich the narrative with distinctive personalities, each contributing to the multifaceted portrait of the central figure. Their performances avoid caricature, instead offering layered perspectives that deepen the mystery of the protagonist.
Together, the cast anchors the film emotionally, ensuring that its technical brilliance is always grounded in human feeling.
Sound and Music
Welles’s background in radio drama deeply influenced the film’s use of sound. Overlapping dialogue, innovative sound effects, and dynamic mixing give the film an aural richness that was ahead of its time. Scenes feel alive with multiple voices and background noises, capturing the chaotic texture of real life.
Complementing this is Bernard Herrmann’s remarkable score—his first for a feature film. Herrmann, who would later compose iconic music for Hitchcock’s Psycho and other classics, brings a bold and experimental sensibility. The music in Citizen Kane is not merely background accompaniment; it shapes atmosphere, underscores emotion, and sometimes even provides ironic counterpoint.
Reception and Controversy
Upon its release, Citizen Kane was not the runaway success its legend might suggest. It was admired by critics but faced resistance from powerful interests. Many saw the film as a thinly veiled critique of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, who used his influence to suppress its distribution and smear its reputation. As a result, the film’s box office performance was underwhelming, and its Academy Award haul was limited to Best Original Screenplay.
Yet over time, as the influence of Hearst waned and critics reappraised the film, Citizen Kane grew in stature. By the 1950s and 1960s, when film studies emerged as an academic discipline, it was hailed as a watershed moment in cinema. Since then, it has been endlessly studied, analyzed, and celebrated.
Legacy and Influence
The impact of Citizen Kane cannot be overstated. Nearly every major filmmaker of the latter half of the 20th century, from Martin Scorsese to Stanley Kubrick to Francis Ford Coppola, has acknowledged its influence. Its technical innovations became standard practice. Its narrative structure inspired countless experiments in storytelling. Its themes remain urgently relevant in an age obsessed with power, celebrity, and media.
Beyond technique, however, the film represents something more profound: the idea that cinema is an art form capable of the same depth, ambiguity, and complexity as literature, theatre, or painting. Welles’s achievement was to expand the horizon of possibility, proving that film could grapple with philosophical questions, challenge narrative conventions, and dazzle the senses all at once.
Why It Still Matters Today
Some viewers, approaching Citizen Kane for the first time, may wonder if it lives up to its legendary reputation. After all, cinematic language has evolved considerably, and audiences today are accustomed to non-linear storytelling, complex cinematography, and psychological depth. But what makes Citizen Kane enduring is not only that it pioneered these elements but that it combined them with emotional resonance and thematic weight.
Watching the film now is like listening to a groundbreaking album: even if later works have built upon its innovations, the original retains its freshness, power, and artistry. It speaks to the human condition in ways that transcend time. Its reflections on ambition, loneliness, memory, and identity feel as urgent in the digital era as they did in 1941.
Conclusion
Citizen Kane is more than a film; it is an event in the history of art. It marks the moment when cinema leapt from being an entertainment industry product into being widely recognized as a serious art form capable of intellectual and emotional depth. Through its revolutionary use of cinematography, structure, sound, and performance, it set a standard that continues to inspire and challenge filmmakers.
For the first-time viewer, the best advice is to approach it with open eyes and patience. Allow yourself to be drawn into its rhythms, its imagery, its shifting perspectives. Don’t worry about catching every nuance in one sitting—this is a film that rewards revisiting. Each viewing deepens the appreciation, revealing new layers of meaning.
Ultimately, Citizen Kane endures not just because of its innovations but because of its humanity. Beneath the technical brilliance lies a deeply moving exploration of what it means to live, to aspire, to fail, and to be remembered. That is why, nearly a century later, it continues to stand as a towering achievement in the world of cinema.