Kane and Xanadu

In Citizen Kane, I found the use of the intro shot and final shot both very interesting. In the beginning of the movie, it starts with a dissolving shot of the fence in hard focus. This then leads to the slower progressing of getting closer and closer to the window in Xanadu. These slow dissolving shots really show off the scale of the place well. Watching this scene as we got closer and closer to the window, gave me dark feelings about this place. Initially you don’t know why it has become such a place but as we get further and further into the movie, we learn that it has become a hive for material things. There is nothing inside that Kane has that is sentimental, except for Rosebud which he can’t even find because the place is cluttered with useless things. Everything bad in this movie has led to the point were Kane builds this massive estate. It has become the crowning jewel of the wealth that has ruined his life. It the last few scenes of the movie, we see the workers beginning to burn all the worthless and broken objects they could find. The eventually burn Rosebud the sled marking the end of him and any memory of his past. After this we once again get a shot of the gate and the “No Trespassing” signs on the fence. This final shot of the crowning jewel of Kane’s wealth shows us how his money led to his terrible fate.