Review of Citizen Kane (Special Edition)

Introduction

Quite possible the greatest film ever made, defiantly one of the most talked-about and influential and a favorite amongst media students, Citizen Kane was, and remains a must-watch film.

Citizen Kane is all the more remarkable as it was the directorial debut for a young, relatively unknown director, Orson Welles. Welles also wrote and starred in this all-time classic film noir.

Citizen Kane himself was based on the real-life newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, whose powerful empire did all they could to prevent the release of this film in 1941. Possibly because of this, the film was not an immediate box-office hit.

The film follows a reporter (Joseph Cotton) as he talks to friends and acquaintances of Kane, after the eponymous mogul dies, trying to find meaning behind the word "rosebud". Their stories are told in flashback, revealing much (but not all) of Kane`s enigmatic life.

Video

The original celluloid for this masterpiece is 60 years old but wonders have been performed to produce an excellent quality feature. The black and white film is presented in anamorphic widescreen and is exceptionally clean considering the age of the source material.

There are still traces of dust and scratches and the odd blurry or muddy sections but overall film quality is extremely good with plenty of contrast but without any intrusive digital effects.

The DVD menu has been animated and is easy to navigate.

The video quality of the extras on Disc 2 is more variable but never terrible.

Audio

The original mono soundtrack has been remixed into Dolby Digital 2.0 although both channels are the same.......

Sound quality is good. There are obviously no exciting surround effects or clever subwoofer rumbles, but dialogue is always nice and clear (people could enunciate properly in those days :) and the soundtrack is never intrusive. There is some feeling of compression, probably because we are used to a much higher audio range these days but that doesn`t subtract from the film.

Features

Special features are spread over the two discs with the bulk on the second, the first disc is limited to a commentary.

The extras are different from the Region 1 discs btw, but not significantly so and have been designed to better appeal to the UK audience.

The commentary on Disc 1 is by noted film historian Ken Barnes and, whilst a little dry, gives a good insight into the making of the film, the background to it etc. It also usefully points out the tidbits you might otherwise miss.

On Disc 2 we have an interesting hour-long piece, "Anatomy of a classic" by Barry Norman who starts off by pointing out that Citizen Kane is always voted "best movie ever" by critics and `experts` and goes on from there .......

We also get a restoration comparison showing the massive effort which has been undertaken to restore the film to it`s original condition (or even better?)

Further extras include a trailer (not restored) and a photo gallery as well as a series of cast and crew profiles.

A couple of clips of some of Wells` off-screen antics are also included (his War of the Worlds broadcast from 1938 which convinced middle America the Martians had landed, for example)

They have managed to shoehorn in an excruciatingly detailed "What Kane cost" feature which goes over the full budget in it`s entirety and then there`s a fairly standard DVD credits.

There`s enough there to keep anyone busy and probably enough to pass a couple of GCSEs.

Conclusion

A great DVD special edition for an even better film.

The debate as to whether `Kane is the best film ever will no-doubt rage on for ever (or at least until the cows come home) but it`s influence on Hollywood and the film industry cannot be denied. As such the film is a must for all movie fans, many of whom rank it amongst the greatest ever.

The extras added to this special edition make for an informative set and one which should be in every DVD collection.