So I’ve watched citizen Kane before so I kinda new what to expect but I never agreed with
people calling it the greatest movie ever made and well it was a little overhyped and boring.
Since it came out in 1941, it was kinda slow because it is outdated compared to modern movies.
But honestly, It wasn’t horrible and it was fairly engaging. Even though it’s an old black and
white film, it felt really ambitious and creative. The way the story jumps around through
different memories instead of being told in a straight line makes it feel more modern. It didn’t
feel like I was just watching history it feels like piecing together a mystery.
The most evocative scene to me was the childhood scene where young Kane is playing in the
snow outside while his parents decide his future inside the house. The camera shows him through
the window in the background while the adults talk in the foreground. That visual really stood
out to me. It felt symbolic like his childhood innocence was physically and emotionally distant
from the decisions being made about his life. He looks small and unaware just playing with his
sled while his entire future is being controlled by adults who think they know what’s best. That
scene made me feel like everything that happens later his obsession with power, money, and
control comes from that moment of abandonment. It’s almost like that’s the moment he loses
something important and he never want it to happen again.
That connects directly to Rosebud. At first Rosebud is treated like this huge mystery. Reporters
are trying to figure out what Kane’s last word meant and the whole movie is structured around
that question. By the end we see that Rosebud is the name of his childhood sled. To me Rosebud
symbolizes lost innocence and the simple happiness Kane had before wealth and power tookover his life. It’s not just about the sled itself but about a time when he wasn’t isolated, bitter, or
obsessed with proving himself. What’s interesting is that no one in the movie ever finds out what
Rosebud means. The audience knows but the characters don’t. That makes it feel even more
tragic. Kane built this massive empire, owned newspapers, ran for political office, and lived in a
giant mansion but in the end what mattered most to him was a simple memory from childhood. It
shows that all his success couldn’t replace what he lost.
The film also has a lot to say about mass media and politics. Kane owns a newspaper and
basically uses it to shape public opinion. He decides what stories to run and how to present them
which shows how powerful media owners can be. It made me think about how media still works
today. Even now corporations and billionaires own major news outlets and social media
platforms. They can influence elections public debates and what information people see. Kane
claims he wants to fight for the common people but he also enjoys the power that comes with
controlling information. That feels very relevant today when misinformation spreads quickly and
media bias is constantly debated.
The movie also explores politics and ego. Kane runs for governor presenting himself as a man of
the people but his campaign falls apart after his personal scandal is exposed. It shows how
politics can be tied to image rather than actual integrity. Kane’s need for control and admiration
seems more important to him than genuinely helping others. That feels similar to modern
political culture The film suggests that democracy can be weakened when powerful individuals
use media and money to shape narratives for their own benefit.Corporations and wealth are another major theme. Kane builds this enormous estate, Xanadu,
filled with art and objects from around the world. But even though he has everything money can
buy he is lonely and disconnected from the people around him. His relationships fail and he
pushes people away. It makes it clear that wealth doesn’t equal happiness. In modern society, we
still see extreme wealth inequality and celebrity billionaires who seem powerful but also isolated.
The film feels like a warning about what happens when ambition and capitalism completely
replace human connection.
Overall I was surprised by how relevant Citizen Kane still feels. Even though it was made over
80 years ago its messages about media control, political ambition, corporate power, and
loneliness still apply today. The mystery of Rosebud gives the film emotional depth, but what
really stuck with me was how tragic Kane’s life is. He spends his whole life trying to gain
control over everything newspapers, politics, relationships but in the end he can’t control the one
thing he actually wants: the feeling of being loved and secure like he was as a child. I didn’t
expect to connect with such an old film, but it ended up feeling thoughtful and surprisingly kinda
modern.