Who is Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) and what where the defining moments of his life? These are the questions that lead Thompson (William Alland) and the viewer on a captivating goose chase through the memories of Kane’s closest associates. Like the many possible meanings contained within the word kane, such as the Irish interpretation “little battler”, the Japanese translation of “money” and “gold”, the Welsh’s interpretation of “beautiful”, and the Hawaiian’s definition as “man”, friends and family each had there own interpretations of Charles Foster Kane.Collectively, these views show Kane as a character that was thrown into a position of power and money, and that underneath the facade of glamour and monetary possessions, he was a lonely and complex individual deprived of a normal childhood experience.
The down hill relationship between Kane and his best friend Jedediah (Joseph Cotton) parallels the deterioration in the principles and growing self-delusion of Kane. Both men enter the newspaper business as friends and equals and both have the grand idea that they are going to infuse their idealistic principles of equality to become the voice for the American working class.Kane writes down these ideas on a sheet of paper and calls it the “Declaration of Principles”, and he hands the paper to Jedediah for safe keeping. This act symbolizes the climax of their relationship, and also a period where each character’s ideals are both aligned.
As the movie progresses, Kane transforms into a character that is larger than life with an attitude that is obsessed with self-promotion. As a result, there is a change in how he approaches the newspaper business.Kane is no longer concerned so much with the welfare of the people as much as he is in making them see the world how he wants. Jedediah, although at a sacrifice of his own image and emotional well being, has stuck to his principles in attempting to portray the news as fairly as he can. Jedediah is visibly hurt by the changes he sees in his friend and leaves for Chicago. This signifies a major deterioration of the friendship between Kane and Jedediah that is similar to the erosion of Kane‘s principles.
Ultimately, the relationship comes to an end when Jedediah refuses to instill Kane’s self absorbed illusionary views regarding his wife’s opera performance into his newspaper article, and as a result he is fired from the Enquirer. This marks the end of their relationship and is symbolized when Kane receives the “Declaration of Principles” in a letter from Jedediah, and rips up the document in a state of disgust. At that point Kane has become a completely different person Rosebud is significant to the film because it helps convey an important message.The cheap and dull sled contains a value that Kane had never fully been able to obtain or recognize since the day he was torn away from his role as a child. One day, a rich banker arrived and transported Kane to a new life filled with material consumption and Wall Street money.
Rosebud is symbolic of his lost childhood youth and a normal life full of family values. The final scene before he is taken away is important because it shows the sled becoming covered in snow and ultimately forgotten and lost. In his new life he is taught that materialism and money can replace missing voids and buy happiness.His old sled is quickly replaced by a new and expensive sled, just one of the many presents given to him by his new Wall Street caretakers. Throughout his life, Kane hoards a mass of expensive items and ultimately builds a monstrosity of a house to hold these meaningless items. A powerful scene from the movie, which makes clear that Kane had lost sight of what is important takes place in Xanadu.
The camera slowly zooms in from the mountains of crates and expensive items stacked to the ceiling onto the small Rosebud sled, seemingly lost amongst the hoards of stuff.The other items, while expensive, contain a monetary value that does little to create happiness, while on the other hand, the sled worth very little money, contains the most sentimental value for Kane, which symbolizes family and a joyful childhood experience. I think the moral of the story is that happiness doesn’t come from expensive material things, but from the value within family and friendships. Citizen Kane is a powerful film about a misunderstood man, who through his misfortune delivers an important message.
The parallelism between Charles Foster Kane and Jededia shows a friendship that breaks down and a deterioration in all the idealistic principles that Kane once stood for. The Rosebud embodied the values of family and all the truly important things in life and contrasts with all of the meaningless monetary items that Kane owned. The narration created an intriguing story that left you wanting to know more by restricting what information it gave you. Citizen Kane was a unique and refreshing film and is now one of my favorite films.
