Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) | Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten

Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) | Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten | Film is Not Videotape, and Should Not Look Like It

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Citizen Kane (Two-...

	Citizen Kane (Two-Disc Special Edition) Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten Turner Home Ent, 2001 average customer review:based on 694 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

blow me away!

A newspaperman, who wants to write about the truth, becomes a politician, who lives and invents lies. It is one of the most visually realized and innovative films in cinema! The camera shots, the lighting, the sets and perspective of this film blow me away! And in this edition you get a stunning transfer that captures it all with great extras!

Film is Not Videotape, and Should Not Look Like It

Five stars for the movie, which after numerous viewings I still find funny, tragic, startling and very entertaining. To assess its importance, compare it to any American film made before it. Welles broke all the accepted rules of "proper" film direction, and instead followed his own first rule of movie-making: "contempt for the experts." (For more on that, see his 1975 contemplation of the nature of art, "F For Fake.")
The video transfer of "Citizen Kane" on this DVD, however, is problematic.
Those responsible for creating this video master certainly had no shortage of challenges. The nitrate-based original 35mm negative of "Citizen Kane" deteriorated decades ago, leaving only intermediate elements of various generations and conditions; the best 35mm film elements in existence are probably 2 or more generations away from the original negative, and consequently are grainy and contrasty. We can also assume they show their age in the form of scratches and tears (this movie having seen a lot of activity over 65 years), and have a certain amount of printed-in and embedded dirt. These inherent problems with all of the existing 35mm film elements have been visible in all earlier video releases and in screenings of 35mm prints of this movie for many years.
Given all this, the digital clean-up and restoration done for this DVD have produced remarkable results. Not a scratch, tear or speck of dirt anywhere.
But here's the problem: The image has been so over-processed electronically that the film often looks like it was shot on videotape. It frequently has a flat and "smeary" look and is utterly grainless, resulting, I suspect, from the electronic effort to reduce the high contrast and eliminate the excess film grain inherent in the 35mm film elements.
But film HAS grain; film is not videotape, and should not be made to look like it. And to dilute the rich, often contrasty black-and-white photography for which this film is famous by reducing it to a blander, less expressionistic palette of grays is some sort of crime. In short, they loved their digital toys more than they loved the movie, and they went too far.
Adding insult to injury, the digital restorers seem not to have known that Welles and cinematographer Gregg Toland intentionally did not light faces in several scenes, this being one of the rules "Kane" broke (for example, Kane's face as he leans over to scribble out his "Declaration of Principles," and the face of the reporter Thompson throughout the film).
Thinking they could improve on "Citizen Kane's" legendary cinematography, thinking, I guess, that these shadowed faces were a mistake, they have used digital tricks to pull hidden detail out of the shadows, making those faces visible for the first time. Since those faces were unlit on the set, the negative in those areas was thin -- that is, there is a faint image buried in the shadow, but normal film printing would leave it dark, as Welles and Toland intended. So these newly-visible faces, thanks to the digital effort to force thin details out of the shadows, appear in pale, ghostly shades of gray.
Maybe some will be happy to see those weird, gray faces at last, but it certainly was not the film makers' intention; it makes their iconic, complex images much more ordinary.
The moral (not of the movie, but of this video master): Just because you can do a thing doesn't necessarily mean you should.
So much effort was put into this master, I'm afraid it may be some time before they have another go at it. When they do, hopefully the digital artists will enlist someone who knows something about film in general, and about this film in particular.
The audio on this DVD, on the other hand, is beautiful. Not a pop or click anywhere, no warbling, no over-processing. The dialogue, Welles's complex, radio-inspired sound-design and Bernard Herrmann's score all sound wonderful. This is no doubt the result of considerable effort, as the audio restoration team necessarily began with optical soundtrack masters in no better shape than the picture elements. They did it right: fixed the old problems and created no new ones.
If you always wanted to see what Thompson the reporter looked like, buy it. Otherwise, sadly, no. If you must buy it, do not consider it definitive. "Citizen Kane" is very much about the psychology of its photography and the depth of its shadows.
By the way, Thompson looked exactly like Arnold Stang.

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A Perfect Movie

Citizen Kane is a wonderful story. Most people of this generation have seen The Simpsons's episode "Rosebud" (The Simpsons - The Complete Fifth Season), and heard the ending just about every time the movie is mentioned, but this movie does a great job of holding your attention.

There's a reason it's such a celebrated movie. It is absolutely wonderful. Kane's story is one that may not leave you breathless as some other more popular movies, but, just as The Godfather DVD Collection (The Godfather/ The Godfather - Part II/ The Godfather - Part III), it builds an aura in itself that you must check out.

Is it the best movie ever made? That's highly debatable. I wasn't as captivated as watching Vertigo (Collector's Edition) or 2001 - A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition), and I may not have been as entertained as watching The Rules of the Game - Criterion Collection or Apocalypse Now - The Complete Dossier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) but there is something about this movie. One that leaves you visually impressed as well as intellectually satisfied. It's not as fast paced as the movies of this generation but it will hold your attention to the end.

This 60th edition two disc set includes two commetaries, one from reknowned director Peter Bogdanovich, and one from reknowned critic Roger Ebert. Roger Ebert's commentary is the better of the two. He sure knows a lot about films. Other than a threatrical trailer there's nothing else to the first disc. The second disc features the 1990's production "The Battle Over Citizen Kane" almost as long and entertaining as the movie itself.

Definite Must Buy.

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Citizen Kane-nobody could have played it but Welles

Up until recently I had never seen Citizen Kane in toto.I had seen bits of it here and there in arts classes and on TV.After watching this movie and reflecting I can only envision one man that could ever had played this part to perfection and that was Orson Welles himself.This movie is as much autobiographical as it is biographical,that is there is as much Welles in this picture as Hearst.From what little I have read on both subjects over the years it is amazing how much these two men had in common in real life in their personalities and their subsequent dealings in whatever concerns were of most importance to them at any given moment.It was almost art imitating life imitating art.
But in 1941 both came together in one glorious time which would never be repeated.The picture earned Welles and company I believe around 10 OSCARS(if memory serves) of which only one was issued denying Welles his just due.Hearst had won the battle but in the end Welles won the war.
On further reflection another thing that very much jumped out at me as I viewed this film was the cinematograpy.The camera work was phenomenal.The lighting,the angles and the placement of shots added totally to the entire feel and execution of this picture.
And another aspect that I noticed was the editing.Of course as Welles controlled just about every aspect of the picture this,I would assume,could also be laid at his feet.But take for example a scene which involves Kane and his first wife.It lasts about five minutes in all but it shows them sitting at either end of a large table.Through several dissolves we see Kane and his wife going from a newly happily married couple to two distant and cold individuals.Brilliantly done.
Technically this picture has been cleaned to perfection.It is a fine transfer.There are two discs here,one has the movie along with clips from the original trailer and opening night,a short interview with a co-star and two different commentaries.The second contains a special which(again) I only saw part of a few years back on PBS called:"The Battle for Citizen Kane",which was part of the American Experience series.You will notice that this disc alone is for sale so it is worth every penny to be included in this set.
All in all I highly recommend this set to everyone.I have really no complaints in any department.While I don't think this is THE greatest movie ever made,I do believe it is one of the most important and best ever done.And when you compare it to some of the best works ever to come out of any film producing nation in the world it is no small praise indeed.

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