Citizen Kane: Film review: Is Citizen Kane The Greatest Film Ever Made?

The 1941 film Citizen Kane was written, and directed by Orson Wells, who even co - stars in this film. Many film critics consider this film to be the greatest film ever made. This film symbolically narrates the lives of William Randolph Hearst and Orson Wells by narrating the life of Charles Foster Kane, a juggernaut in the American newspaper business. Interestingly, this film begins with the death of Charles Foster Kane (played by Orson Wells) and is narrated mostly through flashbacks of the people who knew him best.

A reporter, Jerry Thompson (played by William Alland) tries to find information about Kane's life and his dying word "Rosebud...". Thompson first encounters Kane's previous wife Susan Alexander (played by Dorothy Comingore) but she does not tell him anything other than," Get out!" So, Thompson then goes to an archive of Walter Thatcher (played by George Coulouris), a rich banker and Kane's guardian growing up. Thompson learns a lot about Kane's childhood. He discovers that Kane grew up in poverty as his parents were in charge of a boarding house. His parents ended up giving Kane away to Thatcher. At the age of 25, Kane enters the newspaper business and completely takes over the New York Inquirer. He hires elite journalists for the Inquirer. In fact, he persuades them to leave a paper called the Chronicle for the Inquirer. Everything starts off right for Kane as he is in charge of one of the most powerful Newspaper industries in the world, he marries the president's niece, Emily Monroe Norton (played by Ruth Warrick) and he launches his campaign to be the next Governor of New York. His newspaper even creates two separate headlines in case if Kane wins the election. However, Murphy's law soon comes into effect for Kane and he ends up having to make some tough decisions.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film. Personally, I think this is the greatest film ever made. I liked how the entire film is told through flashbacks. That's not something you see a whole lot in films today and it made me appreciate this film so much more. There's a mystery throughout the film that critics are calling the greatest mystery in all of cinema. This is a film that no matter how many times you watch it, you still leave with questions about it, particularly about Kane's dying word "Rosebud...". This is a film that definitely challenges you and really gets you thinking. That's what I liked most about it. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for a great drama.

Film Noir Analytical Blog Entry

So what exactly is film noir? Film noir is actually a french term that literally means "black film". Generally, films in a film noir had a "dark" aura about them, most likely because film noirs originated after World War II and they correctly described society at that point in time. Personally, I strongly believe that film noir is not a genre. I believe that it describes an era. Film noirs refer to a set number of films that correctly described society after the second World War. There are several characteristics of a "film noir" that strongly persuade me to believe that "film noir" is not a genre.

Generally, a film noir is centered around a cold, pessimistic male character. These male characters typically encounter a beautiful and seductive femme fatale. We see all of this in films like the Maltese Falcon (when Spade (Humphrey Bogart) encounters Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Mary Astor) for the first time), and Chinatown (Gettis (Jack Nicholson) encounters the real Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) and ends up investigating a murder). However, we do not see a femme fatale in either Touch of Evil nor Night in the City. There is an obvious lead male character in both of these films though. The purpose of the femme fatale in a film noir is that the femme fatale will use her womanly wiles to manipulate the male character. We clearly see this in Chinatown, as Gettis is persuaded by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband's murder. We also see this in The Maltese Falcon, as Spade meets with O'Shaughnessy and she tells him that she and Thursby were partners. She says that Thursby possibly killed Archer but she does not know how Thursby died. Spade agrees to investigate the murders of Archer and Thursby.

Some other key characteristics of a film noir are shifty alliances and moral ambiguity. We clearly see this in The Maltese Falcon. Spade is confused and at war with himself. He can't decide on whether to help himself, O'Shaughnessy, her enemies, or the police. We also see this Touch of Evil. However, it is not the central male character dealing with moral ambiguity or shifty alliances. The lying Hank Quinlan (played by the one and only Orson Wells) continually transitions alliances throughout the film. This is also evident in Chinatown as Jake Gettis has to deal with moral ambiguity. He has to deal with the law and he is continually transitioning his alliances with the law throughout the film. In Night and the City, this is somewhat evident as Harry Fabian (played by Richard Widmark), a hustler who is constantly coming up with different schemes that eventually go nowhere is constantly changing alliances all throughout the film.

Most importantly, I believe that film noir refers to an era of films that correctly described the darkness of society after World War II. I believe that these films were very specific to that time period. I feel that directors would make these movies in response to the atmosphere of society. Another reason why I think that film noir refers to an era is because films are clearly marked as "first" "second" , etc. For example, The Maltese Falcon was considered to be the "first" film noir. Touch of Evil was considered the "last" film noir. Film noirs only lasted from the mid 1940's to the late 1950's. There have been several attempts though to remake these films. However, I don't think these films succeed as film noirs. They take several characteristics of film noir but I don't think that they can be classified as a film noir because I feel that a film noir was very specific to a certain time period. I feel that these films can never be re-created because film noirs can't be appreciated the same way as it was back in the 40's and 50's. Director's can try and remake these films but they will not be appreciated as much as they were back in the 40s and 50s.

Night in the City: Film Reveiw

The 1950 film noir Night in the City was written by Gerald Kersh and Jo Eisinger. This film was directed by Jules Dassin. This film was based on the book written by the writer of the film Gerald Kersh. This film takes place in London and narrates the life of a hustler, Harry Fabian (played by Richard Widmark). Murphy's law is certainly in effect for Fabian throughout this film as nothing ever goes right for him. Until, one night in which he believes he has the opportunity of a lifetime. He encounters the most famous wrestler of all time, Gregorious (played by Stanislaus Zbyszko), and his son Kristo (played by Herbert Lom). He intends to take over professional wrestling now that he has a "connection" to the most famous wrestler of all time. However, in the end, Harry Fabian discovers that he is only fooling himself.

To be honest, this wasn't the greatest film I've ever seen. I thought it was good but I definitely would not recommend to anybody. I thought the plot of the story at times was kind of dry and it didn't do a very good job of attracting the viewer. I honestly had trouble following the plot of this film and many times I had to stop and rewind the film. I would definitely not recommend this film to anyone.

A Touch of Evil: Film Review

Over this past weekend, I discovered how to watch movies online. I watched two film noirs: Double Indemnity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZI73zPyYq1o&feature=PlayList&p=E3AA00E725036B6C&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=23)and Touch of Evil (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l21H_XKWX0U&feature=PlayList&p=BC9D162BDF409A29&index=0). By far, I enjoyed Touch of Evil more. Touch of Evil is considered to be the "last" film of the film noir genre. It was written and directed by Orson Welles, who even co - starred in this film. This film begins with an amazing tracking shot that is actually considered to be one of the best tracking shots in the history of cinema! This is a continuous shot that lasts for approximately three and a half minutes. The shot begins on the Mexican/U.S. border and it pursues a car that just had a bomb planted in it. Soon, we see a couple walking down the street, who turn out to be the main characters, Miguel "Mike" Vargas (played by Charlton Heston), a drug enforcement official with the Mexican government, and Susie Vargas (played by the one and only Janet Leigh). This shot ends with this couple witnessing a car bomb explosion that kills the two people inside of the car. This instigates a major investigation that involves both the U.S. and Mexican police.

Soon, we get introduced to some new characters as Police Chief Pete Gould (played by Harry Shannon), District Attorney Adair (played by Ray Collins), Captain Hank Quinlan (played the famous Orson Wells), and Quinlan's partner, Pete Menzies (played by Joseph Calleia) arrive on the scene. As Quinlan and Menzies question a suspect, Mike Vargas goes to the bathroom and accidently bumps a shoe box into a bathtub. Vargas does not think too much of it and puts it back in its original place. Soon after, Menzies declares that some sticks of dynamite were found in a shoe box in the bathroom. Vargas concludes that Quinlan has been intentionally planting evidence to help him win arrests for years. Vargas confronts Quinlan about this and Quinlan calls Vargas racially biased and thinks that he completely supports his fellow Mexicans.

So, Mike Vargas tries to take matters into his own hands by investigating Quinlan. As he is doing so, his wife Susie is kidnapped by a gang member of the Grande crime family and is held at the family's hotel. As the film goes on, Vargas concludes that Quinlan has actually been planting evidence in order to win arrests for years. Vargas now has the difficult task of trying to prove Quinlan guilty of planting evidence while also trying to rescue his wife.

Overall, I really liked this movie a lot! Unlike Double Indemnity, I thought that Touch of Evil was much more suspenseful and had many twists and turns. It definitely kept me guessing about what was going to happen next. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for a good thriller/suspense film. I can't say the same about Double Indemnity though..... :(

The Maltese Falcon: Film Review

The 1941 film The Maltese Falcon is considered to be the "first" film of the film noir genre. This film was written and directed by John Huston and it narrates a private detective, Sam Spade (played by Humphrey Bogart) in San Fransisco. In this film, a disturbed woman hires Sam's partner to follow a man.

Interestingly, Sam's partner is murdered right after he is hired to follow this man. It turns out that the woman who hired Sam's partner, Brigid O'Shaughnessy (played by Mary Astor), was a criminal whose partner actually killed Sam's partner. She was also involved with other criminals such as Joel Cairo (played by Peter Lorre) and Kasper Gutman (played by Sydney Greenstreet).

Gutman has been lusting after a statue of a golden falcon for nearly two decades and was told that O'Shaughnessy had obtained it and she said she would be willing to sell it to him. However, Gutman doesn't get the falcon. So, Gutman and his gang try to handle things their own way, except detective Spade may too much for Gutman and his gang.

I thought that this was an excellent film and I enjoyed it a lot. It was so suspenseful and there were so many twists and turns that it kept the viewer guessing about what would happen next. I would recommend this film to anyone who is looking for a good thriller/suspense movie.

Chinatown: Film Review

The 1974 neo - noir film Chinatown was written by Robert Towne and directed by Roman Plonaski. This film displayed many characteristics of a film noir. For example, the plot of this story could be considered part mystery and part psychological drama. This film takes place in L.A. in 1937. Some woman hires a private investigator named J.J. Gettis (played by the one and only Jack Nicholson). This woman, who claims to be Evelyn Mulwray, (played by Diane Ladd) is concerned that her husband, Hollis Mulwray, is cheating on her and she hires Gettis to spy on him and confirm if he is cheating on her or not.

Gettis follows Hollis Mulwray and catches him with a young woman. Gettis photographs Mulwray with this young woman and publishes it in the local newspaper. However, these photographs cause a great conflict. The woman who originally hired Gettis and claimed to be Evelyn Mulwray was not actually Evelyn Mulwray. To Gettis's surprise, the actual Evelyn Mulwray shows up at Gettis's office with her lawyer. She sues Gettis for publishing absolutely false and ridiculous information. Gettis faces the difficult task of figuring out who really hired him so that he can protect his reputation.

Gettis ends up trying to find Mulwray so that he can talk to him about this situation. This does not happen at all as Gettis discovers the body of Hollis Mulwray in a reservoir. Gettis then visits Mulwray's wife to try and figure out what is going on. She ends up dropping the lawsuit against him and hires him to investigate her husband's murder. There are many twists and turns in this film and it keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat. In the end of this movie, there are many truths that are revealed that are very disturbing.

Overall, I really did enjoy this film. I thought it was very suspenseful and it always kept me guessing what was going to happen next. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone looking for a good suspense film.

Daughters of the Dust and Monsoon Wedding V.S. Hollywood Convention

Daughters of the Dust, Monsoon Wedding, and even a classic Hollywood film like Casablanca have all had different narration styles. Casablanca displayed the traditional Hollywood style of film, while Daughters of the Dust and Monsoon Wedding displayed different types of narration styles as both of these films were independent films.

In the conventional Hollywood film narration style, a common characteristic is to focus on one person (mainly the protagonist). Daughters of the Dust challenges Hollywood convention by focusing on the entire Gullah family instead of just one person. This difference goes to show how many different characters can impact the plot and the outcome of an independent film. The conventional Hollywood film narration style often ignores many secondary characters and focuses only on those characters that clearly stand out as significant in the film. Another difference between the conventional Hollywood style of narration and the style of narration that independent films use is the person who is narrating the film. For example, Daughters of the Dust is narrated by a child who has yet to born or in other words. In a conventional Hollywood Style of narration, the narrator of a film has nothing to do with what happens in the film or the narrator is simply one of the main characters (either the protagonist or the second - most important character). A film that instantly came to mind when saying that the narrator has nothing to do with what happens in the film is the comical film Anchorman starring Will Ferrell. That film is narrated by a man who at the end of the movie hires Ron (played by Will Ferrell) and Veronica (played by Christina Applegate) as the first mixed - gendered network anchors.

In Casablanca, the main characters of the movie, Rick (the protagonist), Ilsa (Rick's love interest), and Ilsa's husband, obviously stand out. The audience can easily identify who the main characters are. In fact, the movie makes it quite obvious who the main characters are. In an independent film like Monsoon Wedding or Daughters of the Dust, it is very confusing who the main character is. In Daughters of the Dust, the focus is on the entire Gullah family. The same thing in Monsoon Wedding. The focus is on the family of the bride.

In conclusion, independent movies, such as Monsoon Wedding and Daughters of the Dust, and traditional Hollywood films such as Casablanca have very different narration styles. There are many arguments mentioned in this blog that accentuates this point.