Citizen Kane (1941)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Charles Foster Kane	Orson Welles
Jed Leland	Joseph Cotten	½
Susan Alexander	Dorothy Comingmore
Jim Geddes	Ray Collins
Mrs. Kane	Agnes Moorehead	½

Review

The career of Orson Welles is a perfect example of that if you start off too brilliantly, you're more or less bound to go downhill from there. However, if the signature film you leave behind is Citizen Kane you shouldn't be too dissatisfied. It has every element of a true classic in it, and its timelessness becomes more and more apparent as time goes on. What is perhaps most mesmerizing about this film is the range of its themes and the incredible force with which they are delivered. Not many movies have the amount of implicit meaning, imagery, allegories and discussions that Citizen Kane carries. It raises questions of moral, human, political and social character, and it does it balanced, nuanced and with dignity. Welles direction is brilliant (the use of shadows here is groundbreaking), but his acting is (if possible) even better. His Charles Foster Kane spans a lifetime and Welles ages with him as if he'd lived the life himself. A uniquely rich motion picture that is as compelling on the fifth viewing as on the first.