Citizen
Kane (1941)
Orson Welles created a
masterful political and social commentary in his film that continues to
resonate today. He builds the story of Charles Foster Kane as a cautionary tale
about power, money, and material wealth paling in comparison to the human
connection of love. For all his wealth and power, he died not having the
ability to love and accept love in return. Welles accomplishes this in a subtle
way primarily in his use of lighting in the cinematography of his work.
From the opening scene
of the no trespassing sign that is dark and foreboding, whenever Kane is on
screen in an authoritarian framework it is dimly lit and/or in high contrast to
another character. When he is young and innocent the scene is filled with
light. Just as when he is taking the reins of the newspaper he is dressed in
light clothing and the shot is anything but dark. Another example is when Kane
returns from his travels with his fiancé in tow, he is dressed in light
clothing and once again the shot is filled with light. Yet as his power grows
and he becomes more and more disenfranchised from the people who care about
him, the shots become darker and more foreboding. Just as the flashbacks of
painful memories are dark the opening scene of Kane’s death is shrouded in
darkness.
Another way this is
underscored is how Susan Alexander is shown bathed in light and soft focus,
appearing to be angelic. This continues until she disintegrates into alcoholism
after Kane dies. Every time she is shown onscreen, her face is illuminated by
soft light. As she sits beside the fireplace working on puzzles she is bathed
in light, while Kane is starkly lit by a lone spotlight, otherwise surrounded
by darkness. Even in the climactic scene of her escape from Xanadu the shot is
bright presumably because she is taking control of her destiny and walking away
from Kane. Once she exits and he destroys her room and possessions he descends
into darkness once again. Charles Foster Kane leaves his world isolated in the
empty dark halls of Xanadu without light and love. Welles uses lighting as a
metaphor for the soullessness of power juxtapositioned against the light of
love and human connections. This is very effectively expressed as the flames
consume Rosebud (the sled from his childhood) and the scene fades to black only
to dimly show the No trespassing sign once again. Kane’s heart was closed to
human connection and therefore no light could be sustained. Orson Welles
produced a stinging indictment against the horrors of greed.
Even though Kane began
his career wanting to help the common man, he was unable to feel any human
connection because his money and power prevented him from doing so. In the end,
his possessions and power were meaningless, spread to the winds or destroyed by
the incinerator. His masterpiece of Xanadu was left to crumble and be swallowed
up, while his only legacy is greed and loneliness.
Group 2: Jessica Davis
As a member of Group 9 I agree that throughout the movie Citizen Kane, Orson Welles uses lighting to show power, feeling, and the overall mood of the scene. The story of Charles Foster Kane does show us a lot about power, wealth, and love, all of which wouldn’t have been shown as clearly without the use of different lighting techniques and forms. From the very beginning of the movie the stage was set. We saw the dark and dreary images of Xanadu surrounded by bad weather and lightning, this showed us that there was going to be mystery, trouble, and passion throughout the movie. Every scene in the movie that Welles wanted to portray as bad he made sure that it was dark and that every happy scene was shown in bright light portraying a happier and more exciting time. As Group 2 said in their post about Citizen Kane, when Mr. Kane announced his marriage to Emily they were outside and it was a beautiful day, but as their marriage started to fall apart the images got darker and darker. At the end of their marriage, they were sitting far apart from each other at the dinner table reading two separate newspapers and the lighting in the house was very dim. It showed that they were on the road to separating and that their marriage was over. The whole movie shows different emotions and feelings through the lighting. It changes how we look at a scene and how what is going on in that scene is portrayed.
ReplyDeleteI really love the way that light and love are connected in this post. I agree that Welles does a terrific job in using the lighting as a metaphor. An early example in the movie of this connection is the first featuring of Rosebud. The scene shows the young Charlie Kane out in the yard with this sled, that at the end of the story is revealed as his most cherished item in life. A man, who owned every material thing known to man, felt so strongly about nothing more than his favorite childhood toy. Charlie is alone in this scene, in a front yard filled with the whitest snow. The glistening snow, along with presumably some of the shiniest lights in Hollywood at the time, connect to create what I think is the brightest scene of the movie (symbolizing the brightest scene of Kane's life). Sadly for the young boy, that brightness quickly just turned to gloom. Also, something that I kind of found interesting, the entire time that Kane was out having a blast in this, the brightest stage in his life, both of his parents were absent; they were in the house, waiting to break the terrible news to their son. No one but him, and Rosebud.
ReplyDeleteIn the early stages of film, I feel like since development hadn't been that great, they had to pay very close attention to the smaller details of production. And Orson Welles seems to do a fabulous job at this with his great contrast in the many darker scenes from the few brighter scenes. His concept sets up moods that fit the settings and situations perfectly. As you stated in your post, about how dark and foreboding the "No Trespassing" sign is, I love how that was used to open the film as well as close the film. I think this sign had a lot to do with the way Kane was; he in a way refused to let people pass a certain point of closeness with him, solely because these people would never be able to know what the real Charlie Kane was like, who was lost in his childhood long ago. Another nice example of the darkness is in the flashbacks of interaction with his wife in the first marriage. At a table that looked to be at least 10 feet long, the two of them would sit on opposite ends from the other. The couple would carry on conversation, with the little to no eye contact, (Kane being more into the newspaper) as well as no emotion. The spacing of the two in the scene combines with the darkness to make it more believable to the audience.
Great post.