Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane"

If there were ever a movie that was mandatory for film students to watch, it’s this one. Citizen Kane is the film student equivalent of having to read 1984 the Weekly Reader in grade school.

Honestly though, I didn’t know what the big deal was about this movie. Even when I watched it the first time in film class, I didn’t see what the big deal was. I mean, yea, it’s got a pretty good story and some great acting. After the screening, we were schooled on the revolutionary camera angles, the music and narrative structure. I had a film professor named Erika Hernandez who had a passion in deconstructing movies and finding their hidden meanings and history and she did it in a very non-boring way. Her classes were some of the best I ever took. Anyway, I watched it again after Professor Hernandez had geeked us out about the film’s technical aspects and paid attention to all that was geeked to us and, yea, it was still enjoyable.

This time around, after having not seen it for several years, I must admit it was nice to actually sit back and watch this classic. It really stands the test of time, the acting and all that we were taught in class still holds firm. And the acting is still top notch. I agree that this movie is a definite candidate for the best movie ever, but it’s gonna duke it out with some real heavyweight classics to claim that top prize. Maybe after this endless project is over I’ll take submissions for a sort of Best Movie Ever Battle Royale… Hmm…. Feel free to start submitting titles NOW!