Rent Citizen Kane (1941)

Disappointing - Citizen Kane review by Maureen

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed the film when it first hit our screens but it does seem very dated, which was a big disappointment. If you want vintage Orson Welles go to "The Third Man" which is still gripping. The essential difference is that it's a much better story than "Citizen Kane". George R.

Innovative drama. - Citizen Kane review by Steve

Orson Welles' legendary debut is the most analysed and critically revered film ever made. Charles Foster Kane is plucked from obscurity by a quirk of fate and becomes an immensely wealthy media baron. But the real Kane is so barely known that on his death his own newspaper launches an investigation into his life , and the meaning of his final word: Rosebud.  

The character is based on news tycoon William Randolph Hearst, but clearly also on Welles himself. The director arrived in Hollywood at 25 claiming to know nothing about the business, which is exactly how Kane announces himself on acquiring the National Inquirer newspaper. And at that age.

 This is a visually stunning film with Gregg Toland's glorious photography, and Welles' artistic visual imagination. Herman Mankiewicz and Welles' scenario is inventive and insightful and the dialogue laconic and witty. The performances have an offbeat quality out of step with forties Hollywood. It hums with the energy of innovation.  

Welles' classic is insightful on the dark arts of politics and capitalism and the men who succeed in those fields.  Both the film and Kane have become mythic creations. In our present era of populist/authoritarian leaders, Citizen Kane remains as relevant as it did in 1941.