Citizen Kane

 

Now, I realize that declaring one’s undying love for Citizen Kane is pretty much the most obvious, least daring thing you could do. It’s the cinematic equivalent of rooting for the New York Yankees to win the world series or pulling for the latest Pixar confection to win Best Animated Film at the Oscars. Over the years, I’ve probably seen Kane twenty or thirty times. But before this new Blu-ray showed up, it had been a while. And I wanted to know if it would hold up…or if it even could hold up. After all,  no other movie as hyped up and overpraised as this one.

It wasn’t always that way, of course. Welles’ dizzying, ground-breaking, totally brilliant faux biopic about a William Randolph Hearst-esque media magnate (made when Welles was twentyfrigginfive!) was actually snubbed by the Hollywood establishment when it came out. Yes, it was nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture, but amazingly it won only one, for its screenplay. Since then, of course, it’s been hailed and hyped to the heavens. People just accept its greatness as gospel. So when the American Film Institute polled a jury of 1,500 filmmakers, critics, and historians to rank the 100 Greatest American Movies of All Time a while back, no one batted an eye when Kane landed at the top of the list. They just hit the snooze button and moved on to the rest of the Top 10.
For the record, here it is:
10. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
9. Vertigo (1958)
8. Schindler’s List (1993)
7. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
6. Gone With the Wind (1939)
5. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
4. Raging Bull (1980)
3. Casablanca (1942)
2. The Godfather (1972)
And, of course, No. 1…