FIlm Essay

The movie Citizen Kane demonstrates the use of cinematography to create expressionist and realistic impressions within its frames (Toland , 4 The film points toward the subjectivity of point-of-view in the depiction of characters within uncharacteristic situations . Though the situations are not normal to the regular person , the filmmaker Orson Welles uses such techniques as lighting , isolation , long takes , and other devices of realism and expressionism to demonstrate a believable and unique reality for the characters . He also uses these techniques along with a commentary on the American Dream to depict the reality

of riches and power 's effect on people . The believability of the scenes that depict certain incredible situations demonstrates the realism that characterizes the films . However , expressionism can be seen as a method used in the film to create that effect , in which the ideas , feelings and attitudes of the characters help to make their individual experiences unique and subjective

Expressionist films like Citizen Kane have heavily relied on realism as a source of their effect (Toland , 4 . Yet this movement has added other techniques to the expression of reality in to create an even greater impression upon the audience . Expressionism in film has been based upon the idea of placing subjectivity within the frame of the camera . Therefore , realism is never completely removed from the expressionist shot , though the interpretation of the film 's meaning becomes vested in the mind of the viewer . No universal interpretation is superimposed upon the scenes rather , scenes become representative of the inner turmoil or other experiences of the characters within them . In fact , realism is highlighted in expressionist films often through such techniques as the incorporation of long intervals of silence or by allowing the audience to stay with the character through the uneventful stages of a long walk toward a momentous event

The isolation of Kane and other characters in the movie Citizen Kane represents an effect of the expressionist style of its creator Certainly , a man in the position in which Kane finds himself might be apt to feel as isolated as he does - and this fact highlights the realistic quality of the film in that context . Isolationism is achieved in director Welles ' use of setting to emphasize the concept of the characters ' loneliness and separation . The scene in which Susan and Kane converse and are separated by a fireplace resembling a chasm is representative of the state of their marriage and the emotional void that separates them . This tendency toward isolationism is realistic (and contemporary ) in the sense that many persons do actually find themselves together with a spouse that seems to have drifted far away from them - so that a chasm separates them like the fireplace

The complete isolation of Kane is subsequently shown (as depicted below through is being place upon a hill of s , elevated yet isolated . One critic comments on this : There are echoes of this selfish impulse in contemporary American separatist militia and other isolationist groups who often believe that they can...