Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Citizen Kane: Rosebud Scene
What I am referring to as the "Rosebud Scene" is the scene where Charles Kane is trashing his room, and comes across a glass snow globe. In this scene, while Kane is throwing things across his room and breaking everything in sight, there is a consistent use of low angle shots. This portrays Kane as a sort of angry, monstrous character. This is obviously an accurate depiction, considering Kane's actions. When Kane finds the snow globe of his own home, he is immediately calmed down as he whispers "rosebud." After this moment, as Kane walks out of his room and into the hall of mirrors, the camera changes from low angle shots to normal angle shots. Different camera angles are used throughout Citizen Kane, to good effect. I also believe that the ending of Citizen Kane is what makes it a classic in the mind of movie enthusiasts. Kane is infatuated with materialistic things and money throughout the film. When he dies, and his last word is "rosebud," it reveals that Kane is not nearly as materialistic as he seems. This is why he trashes all the expensive things in his room and is truly concerned with Rosebud, his childhood sled. This suggests that through all of his marriages and economic prosperity, his only true happiness was experienced as a child in the snow, with his sled. This huge contrast between materialism and anti-materialism and unexpected showing of the latter is what makes Charles Kane such an enigma and such a great movie character.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
We've discussed several times in class that low angle shots are used in the film very frequently. I find it interesting that with the exception of his childhood, Kane is nearly always shown from a low angle. For the majority of his lifetime, this makes sense, as he is an incredibly powerful and charismatic character.
ReplyDeleteWhat's most interesting though, is that even in his final moments, at his weakest, Kane is still shown from a low angle. Maybe this "sense of power" was false the entire time.
Reach, Reach, Reach. The "rosebud" scene is the most famous from Citizen kane. I found that through the movie there were so many different uses of camera angles, transitions, and many more. In the film we saw that there was a bird that cawed to wake up the audience at a dull point in the movie. I agree that the huge contrast between materialism and anti-materialism is what makes Charles Kane such a great movie character. Kane only found happiness when he was in the civil war scene, as a kid. Very interesting Reach. I'll give you a 17/21.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis Reach. I like how you relate the camera angles and low angle shots to suggest that Kane is a monster. The term "rosebud" does suggest a calmer, less materialistic side to Kane and also portrays his true emotions and feelings rather than making him out to be a materialistic rich guy. I think that your analysis of his materialistic personality and inner personality is very good and that you fully explained who Kane is on the inside and who he is on the outside.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you in the idea that Kane's true motivations are exposed in this scene. Throughout the movie it seemed that his only goal in life was not necessarily wealth, but power. This was shown in his running for governor and in the way he ran The Inquirer. Revealing at the very end that all he really wanted was to regain his childhood innocence and joy through "Rosebud" was an interesting end to the film.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you in the idea that Kane's true motivations are exposed in this scene. Throughout the movie it seemed that his only goal in life was not necessarily wealth, but power. This was shown in his running for governor and in the way he ran The Inquirer. Revealing at the very end that all he really wanted was to regain his childhood innocence and joy through "Rosebud" was an interesting end to the film.
ReplyDelete