Drama
1941 / 119 minutes
Rating: 7/10
It’s a mystery with a moral. Often called the greatest film ever made, Citizen Kane is a story told backwards, beginning with the death of fantastically wealthy newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane. His final utterance? Just one word: “Rosebud.” The rest of the movie is told in flashbacks, with reflections from different people Kane knew, who have been tracked down by a reporter trying to figure out the meaning behind this great man’s mysterious final utterance.
We learn that Kane started poor, and had some ambitions to help the ordinary little guys just like him. Then, when he gained control of a newspaper empire, he had just the tool to do it. But little by little Kane’s success twists him into a prideful man, never satisfied with what he has, and always looking for love. The quest for belonging has him ruin his marriage, and turn to politics to get some sense of affirmation from the masses. But it is never enough. And it never lasts.
And that reporter? He never figures out what Rosebud means… though we get to find out in a flashback to Kane’s childhood. I won’t give it away, but I think, for Christians watching, it’s going to strike be an anticlimactic reveal.
Cautions
The only concerns – an attempted suicide, and marital infidelity (but nothing sexual shown onscreen) – would be somber material for any kids watching, but no kids are going to to sit through this.
Conclusion
I still remember the anticipation I had getting ready to watch Citizen Kane for the first time with my cousin way back in our teens. We were going to see it because his dad had been hyping it as the best film ever. Even today, when it might not be at the tippy top of every critic’s list, it’s almost certain to be found somewhere on their Top 100. The world can’t agree about much, except that Citizen Kane is amazing.
Except it isn’t.
My cousin and I were underwhelmed by just how ordinary Citizen Kane turned out to be. Was there something above-average about the cinematography? Sure, probably, but not enough to wow us. What we were both struck by was the moral to the story, and how incredibly banal it was. The message was straight out of the life of Solomon, and the book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. You can have all sorts of women, and money, and power, and it won’t be enough if you don’t have God. Vanity of vanities, we thought. Duh!
But what we weren’t appreciating, is what the world’s response to Citizen Kane demonstrates about how foolish people become when they turn their backs on God. Lessons my cousin and I were taking for granted because God so readily shared them with us in His Word, can only be learned the hard way otherwise. Or, as happens in this film, can only be learned by watching someone else learn it the hard way.
So, maybe the best reason for a Christian to see this film is to consider the gift God gives us in His warnings. What the world saw as a deep, powerful, tremendously insightful cautionary tale was obvious to a couple of Christian teenagers. And not because we were special, but because of what God, in His love, was sharing with us even when we were toddlers.
