Charles Foster Kane was a man who had everything he ever
wanted, people looked up to him in ways and when his last words happened to be
something as mysterious as “rosebud” people became fixated on the possibly
meaning behind it. Despite the movie being a mystery the answer to what rosebud
meant to Kane was told to the audience in the first 10 minutes of the film. From a young age Kane was the focal point to
many people, in the movie this is often shown by high angle shots, and framing
of Kane in multiple sense throughout the movie.
All eyes are on him, since he was a boy he has been the center of
attention, this could possibly explain his fascination with statues in his
house everywhere, and he has always been watched so why not feel watched in his
very own house. When looking at the flashbacks from the perspective of Susan
Alexander you could tell that someone who should have been very close to
Charles Kane and had all the potential to be close to Kane, didn’t feel close
to him at all. Mr. Kane whatsoever. How
could that be? How could someone wife not have any sort of love connection to a
man she has married. I believe this is
true because Mr. Kane has lost every connection to his true self and has grown
an almost alter-ego like persona because that is how he is perceived. Mr.Kane
has a large ego, once something he wanted is taken away from him, like Susan, he loses it. The thing that brings him back
down is the snowglobe that suddenly stops the action scene and suddenly turn
Kane from someone the film looks to as superior to human and flawed. The scene
flashes towards some people outside his room who saw him act out of rage and
suddenly cane isn’t so special if only for a moment. The sled with the writing “rosebud”
symbolizes the lost childhood of Kane and the true happiness he once had, as
well the start to a life where he becomes the center of attention. He lived in
a world of lies , money and inflamed egos, and that isn’t a life of happiness. I
believe that he starts to see this after finding the snow globe and it haunts
him until his last moments
I agree with what you're saying, I said similar things in my post. Also, the camera angles in the scene that shows Susan in a high angle shot makes her seem small and unimportant. Like you said, Charles Foster Kane is the focal point throughout the movie and this is why there are so many high angle shots of him. Those angles make him seem tall, larger than life, and very powerful. He's disconnected from the world and like you said, when something he wants is taken away he loses it. This is shown in the scene where Susan is leaving and he destroys everything in the room he was in. Susan didn't feel close to him because he tried to buy her love, he didn't give her anything that meant anything to him. She couldn't make decisions since Mr. Kane wanted things to go his way so he would look good. He had a big ego, like you said.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your point that "rosebud" is a metaphor for Kane's lost childhood and because of his lost childhood he is a unemotional and isolated man. I like how you used Susan Alexander as someone who was taken away from him but now he loses it, just like his childhood. Although he is married to Susan Alexander there is no real emotional connection considering Kane has "lost every connection to him true self" just like you said.I also agree with you that when Kane looked down at his snow globe it reminded of him of a happier time, his childhood, the only time of his life he was genuinely happy. Your point on how Kane is introduced to the audience as the center of attention is definitely true. The camera movement and framing helps the audience perceive Kane as superior. For example, during the scene where Kane is campaigning there is a huge picture of himself right behind the podium of where he is giving a speech. This symbolizes the reproduction of himself is larger than life.
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