4. CITIZEN KANE (1941)
Citizen Kane: Orson Welles had never made a movie before this one, he was 25 when he made it, and it revolutionized cinema. Filmed in the middle of World War II, this masterpiece is the product of an amazing crew that was given free reign by the studio. The result is what pretty much everybody believes to be one of the finest films ever made.
When Welles arrived in Hollywood, he had been a shining star in radio. Thus, he had a highly tuned sense of sound that, when married to the astounding cinematography, results in a sensory feast. His greatest innovation in this film, however, was a complex narrative structure that distorts time by using flashbacks and other temporally interwoven sequences, before Quentin Tarantino was even born. Previously, films were typically plotted out in strict temporal linearity, but Citizen Kane begins with the obituary of the great publisher Kane and works backward to uncover his rise to power. Sure, no big deal now, but you try being the first person ever to do it.
The story of the film is based on the lives of powerful press titans of the time, such as William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Kane is a larger-than-life figure whose megalomania catapults him to power before casting him into ignominious solitude. This epic plot befits a film of such visual and narrative innovation. Much of the movie may appear unremarkable to the modern viewer, but practically everything contemporary about film was invented in this one. The amazing use of chiaroscuro and perspective all possess narrative relevance: who is in the dark and who are lighted indicate the moral valences of those characters. See Citizen Kane to see where it all began.
Notes:
- Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Actor . . . all for Mr. Welles.
- Won 1 Academy Award: Best Screenplay
- Placed #1 on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Movies" List
