1. Citizen Kane Critical Essay
"I don't think any word can explain a man's life". Thompson says, "Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost". The first image of "No Trespassing", which also mirrors the last shot of the film, is making a statement about Kane's life - a powerful man who got everything he wanted in life yet lost it. "Rosebud" explains nothing in the end, that is, nothing the viewer had expected it to. If Thompson had known of the sled, this may have given the viewer closure. Thompson may have concluded that "Rosebud" was the sled that represented Kane's childhood and innocence. The issue of the separation with his mother, along with detailed forecasting throughout the film, tells us that "Rosebud" was Kane's symbol of the security of his childhood. Through the many faces of Kane - the innocent little boy, the younger, happier Kane, the Kane who made shadowy figures with his fingers while with Susan Alexander, the Kane who chose his mistress over his marriage and son (and political career), and the Kane who kept millions amused, we see that "Rosebud" was only a tool to tell the story, which in the end explains nothing at all.
The snow globe Kane holds in his hand during his death, and after his second wife, Susan Alexander leaves him, also forecasts that "Rosebud" does not provide an answer to who Kane really was, but refers more to a question that may have haunted Kane throughout his life. Kane could have thought there was never any real love with his mother, as he toasts with his best friend, Jed Leland, "A toast, Jebediah, to love on my terms. Those are the only terms anybody ever knows, his own". This statement held true throughout his relationships with his mother and any other bond in his life. Kane's strange obsession with the snow globe seems to wit his feelings for his mother.
"All he really wanted out of life was love," Leland says. "That's Charlie's story - how he lost it".
Interwoven in a lot of the scenes is the word "Rosebud". ... Discovering Rosebud's true meaning is a hunt all the way through the film. ... Rosebud's true meaning is summed up perfectly by an inquisition by Bernstein, "You know, I was thinking, that Rosebud you're trying to find out about. ... No, I guess Rosebud is just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, a missing piece." Rosebud was Kane's missing piece in his quest for happiness. ...
"Rosebud" is what Kane says right before his death. ... He looks at it and says the word "rosebud." "Rosebud" is what everyone wants to know about. ... Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get or something he lost. ... "Rosebud" is indeed a missing jigsaw puzzle in Kane's life. ...
The greater part of the film takes place in a flashback, as the reporters try to assemble some sort of story as to what "rosebud", Kane's final words, mean. ... Thompson, the reporter assigned to the mission, meets the audience begins to wonder who really knows what "rosebud" is. ... Snow later returns in a snow globe, when his lips form his dying words "rosebud". ... Thompson make a conclusion as to what "rosebud" actually was. ... The camera pans out quickly, making the audience think that there might not really be an explanation to "rosebud", but then suddenly, it closes in on a burn...
The greater part of the film takes place in a flashback, as the reporters try to assemble some sort of story as to what "rosebud", Kane's final words, mean. ... Thompson, the reporter assigned to the mission, meets the audience begins to wonder who really knows what "rosebud" is. ... Snow later returns in a snow globe, when his lips form his dying words "rosebud". ... Thompson make a conclusion as to what "rosebud" actually was. ... The camera pans out quickly, making the audience think that there might not really be an explanation to "rosebud", but then suddenly, it closes in on a burn...
As the backgrounds begin to change into a closer view of the castle, then a view of the castle from the reflection of the water surrounding it, we are drawn into the window as a man falls dead with the last words "Rosebud" coming from his mouth. ... Throughout the movie, we see that "rosebud" is played up to have some major significance in Kane's life. Rosebud is definitely a clever prop that Welles uses to take the film on it's journey. ... The "rosebud" is representative of a life unfulfilled. ... I think that the "rosebud" was more of a way to show how Kane suffered from...
As the backgrounds begin to change into a closer view of the castle, then a view of the castle from the reflection of the water surrounding it, we are drawn into the window as a man falls dead with the last words "Rosebud" coming from his mouth. ... Throughout the movie, we see that "rosebud" is played up to have some major significance in Kane's life. Rosebud is definitely a clever prop that Welles uses to take the film on it's journey. ... The "rosebud" is representative of a life unfulfilled. ... I think that the "rosebud" was more of a way to show how Kane suffered from...
The most interesting part of the film I noticed to be the constant referral to Rosebud, it locked the interest of the viewers perspective to determining the meaning behind rosebud. It wasn't fully determined to the viewers if the reporters ever found out the true meaning behind "rosebud", but the viewers were aware of the fact that he missed his parents. ...
And we finally got an answer: = the enigma of Rosebud= Let's start by explaining how this word (Rosebud) appears for the first time in the movie! ... Even Thompson concluded: "Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost,'' and he added: "I don't think any word can explain a man's life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle." Indeed, a number of possible interpretations could be placed upon the meaning of the riddle of Rosebud, including Bogdanovich's gossip that the hidden meaning is a more intimate one, pointi...