My OperaI don't Want to Lose My ''Rosebud''!
Sunday, November 12, 2006 2:10:45 PM
It is in a big palace, really big.
It is dark, definitely dark.
Suddenly, there comes a single word---Rosebud, accompanied by the startling sound of something which slipped down from a man's hand and broken.
This was the suspensive opening scene of the movie Citizen Kane, which I watched last week in the class.
Citizen Kane, which was released in 1941, has often been called "the greatest film ever made". The American Film Institute put the film at the top of its "100 Greatest Movies" list.
Orson Welles directed and produced it, as well as palying the title role.
It is story of a newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, who leads an eventful but tragic life in fighting for power in the publishing world. After consulting some materials, I realize that there is not such a tycoon in the real world. It is rumored to be based on the lives of William Randolph Hearst, a powerful newspaper magnate and publisher in America.
Apparently, the film tells how the reporter seeks to find what Kane meant by his dying word "Rosebud". In fact, we learn the facts of Kane's whole life as the reporter interviews Kane's friends, family, and associates.
It is a rags-to-riches tale. Kane was born in a poor family, but he inherited a fortune and became fabulously wealthy by entering into the newspaper business and establishing "Yellow Journalism". He even married to a president's niece Emily Norton. Then, he set his mind on a political career, but unfortunately, his political dreams were shattered after the revelation of a "love-nest" scandal with a singer Susan Alexander, who became his second wife later. The political failure, two failed marriages, and his ever-dominant attitude led to his lonely and desperate old age years in vast castle called Xadadu, which was filled with innumberable possessions. In the end, he died in loneliness after uttering a single final word---Rosebud.
Well, what is Rosebud on earth?
Nobody really said it out in the film, but after watching it, you will suddenly find it out in the burning fire. Unexpectedly, It is the name of a sled from Kane's childhood. The sled is thrown in the fire to be burned, which represented a lost childhood innocence. (Kane loved sled in his childhood and was playing it even when he was taken away from his parents.)
The film is wildly considered as a milestone in the development of cinematic technique.
Well, to be frank, I don't really know much about that. But what impressed me most were the flashbacks.
To conclude, I like this movie itself, though it is faraway and sometimes difficult to understand. However, I don't think I appreciate Kane. I want to tell him, there are much more meaningful things in our lives. Kane, you remembered your "Rosebud" in the end, but it was too late, because you had lost it---you had lost something really meaningful in your life! What a shame!
Nowadays, there are still many people paying all their attention in chasing after political power and money, but that is not life, in my opinion. Life means much more than that. I don' want to lose my "Rosebud" in my life, and you?
(above) the sled "Rosebud" in the fire
P.S. I am still a little confused about the reason why Kane has to be taken away from his parents when he inherited a fortune, and where came the fortune. Hope you will say something after watching it.
It is dark, definitely dark.
Suddenly, there comes a single word---Rosebud, accompanied by the startling sound of something which slipped down from a man's hand and broken.
This was the suspensive opening scene of the movie Citizen Kane, which I watched last week in the class.
Citizen Kane, which was released in 1941, has often been called "the greatest film ever made". The American Film Institute put the film at the top of its "100 Greatest Movies" list.
Orson Welles directed and produced it, as well as palying the title role.
It is story of a newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, who leads an eventful but tragic life in fighting for power in the publishing world. After consulting some materials, I realize that there is not such a tycoon in the real world. It is rumored to be based on the lives of William Randolph Hearst, a powerful newspaper magnate and publisher in America.
Apparently, the film tells how the reporter seeks to find what Kane meant by his dying word "Rosebud". In fact, we learn the facts of Kane's whole life as the reporter interviews Kane's friends, family, and associates.
It is a rags-to-riches tale. Kane was born in a poor family, but he inherited a fortune and became fabulously wealthy by entering into the newspaper business and establishing "Yellow Journalism". He even married to a president's niece Emily Norton. Then, he set his mind on a political career, but unfortunately, his political dreams were shattered after the revelation of a "love-nest" scandal with a singer Susan Alexander, who became his second wife later. The political failure, two failed marriages, and his ever-dominant attitude led to his lonely and desperate old age years in vast castle called Xadadu, which was filled with innumberable possessions. In the end, he died in loneliness after uttering a single final word---Rosebud.
Well, what is Rosebud on earth?
Nobody really said it out in the film, but after watching it, you will suddenly find it out in the burning fire. Unexpectedly, It is the name of a sled from Kane's childhood. The sled is thrown in the fire to be burned, which represented a lost childhood innocence. (Kane loved sled in his childhood and was playing it even when he was taken away from his parents.)
The film is wildly considered as a milestone in the development of cinematic technique.
Well, to be frank, I don't really know much about that. But what impressed me most were the flashbacks.
To conclude, I like this movie itself, though it is faraway and sometimes difficult to understand. However, I don't think I appreciate Kane. I want to tell him, there are much more meaningful things in our lives. Kane, you remembered your "Rosebud" in the end, but it was too late, because you had lost it---you had lost something really meaningful in your life! What a shame!
Nowadays, there are still many people paying all their attention in chasing after political power and money, but that is not life, in my opinion. Life means much more than that. I don' want to lose my "Rosebud" in my life, and you?
(above) the sled "Rosebud" in the fireP.S. I am still a little confused about the reason why Kane has to be taken away from his parents when he inherited a fortune, and where came the fortune. Hope you will say something after watching it.
(33%)
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Leonardleoleo # Sunday, November 12, 2006 5:40:09 PM