I heard about Citizen Kane movie for while but I never knew what it's about. I finally rented the DVD.
Orson Welles, resembling the look of Leonardo De Caprio with a voice and demeaner of Kelsey Grammer (Frazier), acted brilliantly as Charles Foster Kane, a man who was sent away from his family as a boy to a rich family and became an ambitious and successful newspaper tycoon. After declaring his principle or mission statement, Kane started taking down corrupt public figures and serving the interest of the readers. He became successful after acquiring one newspaper after anothe – just like William Hearst. He knew no limit to his charm and power. After several failed marriages in his feable attempt to earn/buy the love from others but insisting on his way, he later became isolated and rejected from all his friends and loved ones. Finally, he died in his Xanadu castle and uttered his last word – "Rosebug," a word that became a topic of fascination by a reporter in search of the true meaning of the word. Only the audience know at the end of the moive that it's carved on the snow sled of his childhood, a time when he was truly happy.
In a way, I empathize with him. It's probably very hard to win the true love from someone from his position of power. Buying love was quick and effective in a short term. But the wind direction can change quickly, like the case when he was running for a public office and his extramarital affair was exposed by his opponent. Sadly, winning the public opinion seems easier than winning the affection of his wives.
I utterly enjoyed the movie. The "rosebug" mystery kept people's interest piqued at finding out what it meant. It's sad to see a prideful, powerful man got brought down by something an ordinary people can enjoy relatively freely – love and be loved. On other hand, he was handicapped by not being loved by his own mother in the first place.
I agreed with the critic that this is a classic from 1941 with lots of the innovations of its time. The makeup that ages each of the characters are simply amazing and first class.
