Citizen Kane

Name: Citizen Kane
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Released: September 4, 1941
Duration: 119 min
Rating: 100
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles

1941

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 19 Critic Reviews

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100

USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 808 Ratings

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8.4

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8.4	User Score Universal acclaim based on 808 Ratings

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Citizen Kane

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Movie Details & Credits

RKO Radio Pictures | Release Date: September 4, 1941 | Approved

Starring: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles

Summary: Following the death of a publishing tycoon, news reporters scramble to discover the meaning of his final utterance.

Director: Orson Welles

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 119 min

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Metascore

100

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Critic Reviews

100

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

It is the epitome of filmmaking, a masterpiece for which Welles, one of the greatest practitioners of the cinematic art, will be forever remembered. Read full review

100

Staff (Not Credited)

It's a visual feast, from the moody, horror-flick style opening which hovers over the gates of man-made mountain Xanadu, to the opera-house scene when we levitate hundreds of metres from Susan's awful stage debut to the workmen flinching in the rafters. Read full review

100

Josh Larsen

There is hardly a shot in Orson Welles’ towering achivement that doesn’t employ some sort of ingenious trick involving the camera, editing, sound, staging or production design. Kane didn’t invent all of its techniques, but it’s one of the few pictures I can think of that uses almost every one in the movie playbook. The film is like a dictionary of the cinematic language. Read full review

100

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Sublime moments, of which the most extraordinary must still be Everett Sloane, playing Kane's former business manager Mr Bernstein, remembering the girl in the white dress on the Jersey ferry: "I only saw her for one second and she didn't see me at all – but I'll bet a month hasn't gone by since that I haven't thought of that girl." I'll bet a week hasn't gone by when I haven't thought about that line and pictured the girl so clearly that she has become a false memory of the movie itself. Read full review

100

Empire

The sheer audacity and delight Welles takes in flouting conventions and inventing new ones is what keeps it fresh. Read full review

100

Kate Cameron

Welles displays touches of genius in the handling of his story. His cast, made up of players from his Mercury Theatre group, respond like sensitive musicians to the movements of the conductor’s baton. Read full review

Edwin Schallert

Citizen Kane does occasionally sink to dullness because of its reiterations, notwithstanding it can be classified as, in a number of aspects, one of the most arresting pictures ever produced. Read full review

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User Reviews

Xmoviefilms

Oct 17, 2020

Living up to it’s name, Citizen Kane’s incredible story and different style changes the cinema itself and earns to be one of the best of all time.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

1996

Jul 12, 2017

Wonderful, marvelous, glorious, fabulous... this is Citizen Kane. Every time that i see is the same satisfaction and excitation with the history of unforgettable Charles Foster Kane. Eternal aplauses to Orson Welles for this work. Greetings from Natal, Brazil!

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

Vladthepoker

Jan 12, 2018

My personal favorite movie of all time, Orson Welles's Citizen Kane is a masterpiece of cinema. The most acclaimed element of the film the camera work, which is still to this day impressive. But it isn't just there to be flashy, it helps to tell the story. The shot of Kane walking throughMy personal favorite movie of all time, Orson Welles's Citizen Kane is a masterpiece of cinema. The most acclaimed element of the film the camera work, which is still to this day impressive. But it isn't just there to be flashy, it helps to tell the story. The shot of Kane walking through the mirrors might be the most depressing shot in history. The cinematography isn't the only innovative part of this film. The movie opens with the protagonist dying, and then his life is told in flashbacks, a revolutionary idea for 1941. The narrative structure and the cinematography are usually what is talked about in reviews of Citizen Kane (And they are amazing), but other aspects of the film are just as good. The performances from the mercury actors are all phenomenal, keep in mind they all had to age fifty years for their roles. The script (the only thing that won an Oscar) is also fantastic, the Bernstein monologue being one of the stand out moments. Bernard Herman's score is also great, I love the music that plays when reading Thacher's account of Kane's childhood and at the end of the film (I won't spoil what it is showing in case you haven't seen it). Citizen Kane is as close to perfect as a film can get, if you haven't seen it watch it now!… Expand

7 of 9 users found this helpful72

Suleymam19

Dec 30, 2021

Just a word, this is a life movie . I like it so much! It is one of bests in history

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

vergilchin

Oct 21, 2020

good movies..............................................................................

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SoapNugget

Apr 28, 2021

Gonna be completely honest, as a film lover I was pretty disappointed with this film. I had heard so much about it like that it was the greatest film of all time and stuff like that and I was going in expecting the greatest film of all time. Unfortunately I was let down, I can see why peopleGonna be completely honest, as a film lover I was pretty disappointed with this film. I had heard so much about it like that it was the greatest film of all time and stuff like that and I was going in expecting the greatest film of all time. Unfortunately I was let down, I can see why people love it so much but for me it didn't hit the mark as well as I hoped, still a good movie just don't hype it to much for yourself… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Issi1234

Mar 9, 2021

Most overrated movie ever. The most boring and **** movie i have ever watched my goodness!

0 of 8 users found this helpful08

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