elanmars

Actually, for the record, I honestly do think that Citizen Kane is the best movie ever made. I just didn't want people arguing in a thread about Star Wars, which was why my response was so short.

As far as what you said, well...I disagree. It's my favorite movie, but I honestly find it to be incredibly engaging on a story/character level. That was the thing that so excited me the first time I saw it; I couldn't believe that someone was doing such an uncompromisingly complex character study. For its time, that aspect alone still amazes me.

But that's my opinion solely and I wouldn't have bothered responding except that one thing you said rang false. Kane is not a mystery. On any level. "Rosebud" simply gets the ball rolling for the movie and is a hook for the audience. By the time it is revealed, it's meaningless, and is stated to be so by the reporter in a voiceover as we find out what it is. It just winds up being something we already knew. The general idea is that the original thought the audience might have had - that a word might explain a great mystery - is naive and silly, and the great mysteries of the movie (such as why Kane forces his girlfriend to sing crappy opera, humiliating both of them) will never be answered. So once you dispense with Rosebud entirely, you have a much bigger and more wonderful mystery than you had initially been lead to believe, and I would say that that is exemplary plotting, eschewing a small payoff for a big one.

Casablanca is a wonderful movie, but even in terms of emotional punch, Kane hit me as hard. Maybe harder. And Casablanca, while beautifully directed, is exactly where moviemaking at the time was. Kane was light years beyond its time in terms of filmmaking, and it's that one-two punch that makes it my favorite movie.

I'm not saying you're wrong or anything like that; I'm opinionated, but I never forget that it's all subjective.