Citizen Kane

Scene: “Declaration of Principles�
4. Figure Movement and Expression (Acting)
In the movie Citizen Kane, directed by Orson Welles the scene I chose to analyze is Charles Foster Kane, played by Orson Welles, Declaration of Principles to his newspaper the “Enquirer”. This scene takes place in a small office with crème colored walls with wood trim. There are two Elizabethan windows on the far right wall. The window to the right is larger and looms over Kane as if he is on a throne. In front of the window on the left is a large metal chair in which Jedidiah Leland sits. Across the back wall is a long rectangular couch. In front and to the left of the couch is a long wooden table on which a gas lantern sits. At the end of the table there is a small wooden chair with leather cushioning. Kane uses a large sheet of torn scrap paper and a black correction pencil to write his declaration of principles on. Jedidiah Leland is holding a cigar during their conversation but he never smokes it and

The scene that I chose, Kane’s declaration of principles, had many elements that were deliberately chosen because they create specific meanings. The difference in the characters clothing and their composition is one element. The only other element that I found to be of significant importance to the meaning of the scene is the lighting in the small office and how only Charles Foster Kane seems to be in shadow.

This scene is about Kane’s power and insincerity towards his friends and people around him. The shadow over Kane when he reads his declaration of principles shows that he is insincere. Jedidiah Leland asks Sali, a news publisher, if he can have the original document because he may need it in the future. This foreshadows that Kane will not follow through his promises and that somehow later in the film Leland will use the document against Kane.

The character description of the men is as follows. All three men wore suits though each wore them differently. Jedidiah Leland wore a dark gray striped three-piece suit with a bow tie. Mr. Leland also had his hair slicked back so that no hair was out of place. Charles Kane was wearing black suit pants, a white dress shirt with black buttons, a large collar, and white suspenders. Kane’s collar was undone, he wore no suit jacket, and his hair was in a tassel. Mr. Bernstein, who sat to the left, wore glasses and a white suit shirt his pants were unseen. Sali, one of Kane’s publishers, was wearing a white dress shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black suspenders. Throughout the scene the composition of the characters was always the same, Leland on the left, Kane in the middle, and Bernstein on the right.

The lighting features of the small office were minimal. The room was well lit with many shadows cast around Kane and upon him. The scene took place during the evening. The room was originally illuminated by a ga