Citizen Kane

Rating Scale

My rating scale will be from 0 to 10 at .5 increments so it will start at 0 then the next rank is .5, 1, 1.5 and so on until 9.5, and finally 10. I will judge based on acting performance, graphics (for the time), genre (it has to appeal to a wide group of people), and the plot. All of these will be taken into consideration as I give my score.

Citizen Kane

What can be said about the infamous or famous mister Kane? Well in my opinion the acting wasn’t the greatest like the dimwitted Susan Alexander Kane (played by Dorithy Cormingore) who struck me as too gullible to exist. The directing by Orsen Welles was okay and the plot was excellent in my opinion. The plot always left you thinking. Then to top it off there was some excellent cinematography going on in this movie. I will give citizen Kane a 7.5 out of 10.

Acting:

• The acting in this movie left me a little depressed I just wasn’t convinced that they were playing their parts at their best. Like I mention earlier Susan was depressing, not in the actual depressed sense either. She had no idea who Kane was even though he was a millionaire, was in the paper numerous times, owned a large paper, and was running for governor of her state. Now this could be a plot issue or a directing problem but I think she took the meaning of being unaware way too seriously. She was nearly, "…everything [I] would have hated]." Then there was Charles Foster Kane (Orsen Welles) who was convincing at times and less in others. For example when Kane was with his wife and it doesn’t matter which one because he was the same in both marriages. He seemed a little absentminded and I don’t think he took it seriously, while when conflicts arose like with Leland. I never questioned his identity. These are just a few reasons I questioned his acting.
  

Plot:

• Oh my lanta the plot was great and almost reached the Rhett Butler "level". You see happy endings are nice and belong in some movies like any Disney movies, however; the real world isn’t always happy and for there to be an ending like this just makes me laugh myself into tears. Mostly because everyone wants a happy ending, and I’m that one guy everybody hates because I’m waiting for something tragic and terrible to happen. Then when it finally does happen in a movie I become happy and everybody else is mad and says this movie was terrible. When in truth it was quite good because they enjoyed everything up to the ending. I mean who doesn’t love watching a child defend himself from an adult with a sled? Then as Kane got older he did things that made everyone else mad. People could relate to it because he did whatever he wanted too due to the fact he had the money. Like he said, "…and I plan on losing another million next year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I’ll have to close this place in… 60 years." That is nearly everyone’s dream, to do whatever they want without worry. Then to finish with the sled being rosebud was marvelous because it did represent the story of Kaner’s life. I give the plot 10 out of 10, just a superb story.
  

Symbolism:

• I know I didn’t mention it in my introduction but I feel the need to address it. The symbolism in the movie was fantastic not only were there object but the words were also symbols. Take "rosebud" for example. It represented Kane who never had a chance to blossom and the sled which was where he parted ways with the chance to lead a normal life. Then there were the big posters which in my opinion represented a Hitler mentality. He wanted everyone to love him and follow him just like Hitler there was no room for anyone else. It was to be on his terms and that was final. Then there were the statues which could have represented many things. It could represent friends he never had, an empire that he could control completely, or an insanely crazy love for statues. Then lets not forget the snow globe, which represented his house when he was a child. It was his only safe place.
  

• Finally, to wrap this saga all together. I was a little disappointed in the mom, I think she just didn’t love Charles and his dad was the one who really loved him. The symbolism and plot was excellent, bravo. How many stories turn out to be about a sled? Just awesome! As I mentioned earlier I questioned the ability of certain characters for the play but I’m sure they did the best they could. Overall the movie was well designed and kept people interested when they examined memories of people by going into flashbacks. This was an interesting film and honestly was one I wouldn’t have thought to choose. The name alone sounds boring until you get into it and realize its really quite something.

Gone With The Wind Review

Rating Scale

My rating scale will be from 0 to 10 at .5 increments so it will start at 0 then the next rank is .5, 1, 1.5 and so on until 9.5, and finally 10. I will judge based on acting performance, graphics (for the time), genre (it has to appeal to a wide group of people), and the plot. All of these will be taken into consideration as I give my score.


Gone with the Wind

• Gone with the wind while being very advanced for its time, seemed to lack in its plot. Overall it deserved about 7 out of 10 due to the excellent acting, wide genre appeal, and the vivid graphics. Clark Gable who played Rhett Butler was a tremendous relief from the overplayed drama of Scarlett O'Hara’s (played by Vivien Leigh) “Ashley” obsession. In my opinion the south was represented fairly well, the war was interesting, and the rebuilding looked realistic. I thought the director Victor Fleming with his team did a tremendous job of compiling the 1000 plus page novel into a film that while lengthy, could be watched in one sitting not counting the intermission.
  
• As mentioned earlier gone with the wind’s plot seemed to lack in substance although it was only after the intermission which basically splits the movie in two. The first half of the movie was well written and had an excellent story line with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Civil war, and the North’s march down south. However once you get to the second half of the movie that begins with the aftermath of the war the storyline became a little vague, random, and repetitive as Scarlett continues on trying to obtain Ashley. It was frustrating because how many times do you have to get shot down before you realize they don’t love you, or when they told you years ago he loved Melanie (Olivia De Havilland) you continue to chase him? The best part of the second half was when Rhett walked out on Scarlett and said “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a dam.” Maybe she learned an important lesson while too late, she needed to learn regardless. However as a whole I think that if they would have altered the ending of the first half of the movie and cut out the second half, it could arguably be the best movie of all time. I say arguably because not everyone likes the same genre and while the movie didn’t appeal to me, I have to admit it was made fairly well.
  
• Anyone who wants to can disagree with my next few lines of writing because I am not a person who always wants “perfect picture.” As long as strings aren’t visible and extremely ridiculous tactics of achieving the impossible aren’t used I think the graphics are fine in any movie. Now it helps if the graphics are better however I won’t score a movie low because the pictorials are just older. I don’t need to see every piece of shrapnel from the bomb fly out or the jet stream as superman flies. It is just a part of the movie and the time period. So for this movie to have that kind of picture for a film made in the late 30’s to early 40’s was pretty amazing. This again is completely and totally my opinion about cinematography, so you’ll just have to deal with it.
  
• The last thing I will comment on is the great symbolism in the G.W.T.W. There were numerous points in the movie where an object could symbolize many things. I think that if a movie has symbolism people will relate to it better. If you show objects that might mean different things to different people, but it is a positive influence on them regardless I think the movie turns out better. Like how the bell in the beginning of the movie could have symbolized American freedom from foreign rule but it also symbolized a different type of freedom to the blacks. It was “quittin’ time!” There was also Tara which was Scarlett’s home, but also was almost a part of the family because she always took care of it. Then according to her father, “Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin’ for, worth fightin’ for, worth dyin’ for, because it’s the only thing that lasts.” Land could mean a lot to different people, but it is something that will turn out positive. Then there was also the pose at the end of the first segment right at the intermission when Scarlett promised herself she would never be hungry again. The pose looked like the statue of liberty and could have symbolized the American Dream, the potato famine which brought over many Irish people of which Scarlett could have descended from, or the fight for women’s rights. I think they used symbolism extremely well to get their message out.
  
• Overall the movie was alright it didn’t catch me as anything spectacular other than the vivid pictures from the time period. It had some good dialogue between Rhett and Scarlett like when they first met and acknowledged that neither of them were gentlemen or ladies as the opening quote suggested. The complete storyline was a little below average and could have been done better or a little differently but the actors were extremely convincing. It must have been very difficult for the actors to play characters in a love/war/drama film. I would say watch it at your own risk and not as a warning that this movie is bad, but if this doesn’t fall into your film preference area, then it probably won't catch your fullest attention.