Citizen Kane Is Rosebud Significant or Not
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Citizen Kane: Is Rosebud Significant or Not?
Considered to be "Orson Welles greatest achievement and a landmark of cinema history" the film Citizen Kane tells the story of Charles Foster Kane, a wealthy and powerful newspaper publisher. In the film, Welles, producer, director, co-screenwriter, and star, along with Gregg Toland, cinematographer, and Herman J Mankiewics co-screenwriter, use a variety of cinematic techniques to render their portrait of Kane and his unfulfilled quest for happiness and love, lost in his childhood, symbolized by his dying word, " Rosebud." There has been much debate in the film, by its critics, and by its viewers as to whether Rosebud is the key to unlocking the enigma of Kane's life. By examining some of the scenes and their composition in which Rosebud is represented an attempt will be made to explain the importance of the symbolism of Rosebud. In order to narrow the focus this paper will concentrate on the techniques used by the above mentioned artists, although other elements of the film, notably the score, acting, makeup and special effects, contribute to its overall excellence, as well.
Our first introduction to Rosebud is in a scene described by Tim Dirks as follows:
The scene shifts to swirling snowflakes that fill the entire screen - here's another mysterious object that demands probing. The flakes surround a snow-covered house with snowmen around it, and in a quick pull-back, we realize it is actually a wintery scene inside a crystal glass globe or ball-paperweight in the grasping hand of an old man The film's famous, first murmured, echoed word is heard uttered by huge, mustached rubbery lips that fill the screen: R-o-s-e-b-u-d!
Throughout the movie the extreme close-up is only used in this scene. It is used for emphasis on the last word spoken by Kane before he drops the snow-globe which rolls down a couple of steps and shatters as he dies...