Current Forum: Session 2: Film Language in Classical Hollywood Cinema	Read 7 times 	
Date: 22-Jan-2001 22:35:37	
Author: DAVIS, SHERYL Y. <syd8438@garnet.acns.fsu.edu>	
Subject: Class and Gender in Citizen Kane 	
 [Remove]	
		
       John Belton discusses the camera's ability to empower a character based on the angle of the shot. In Orson Welles' Citizen Kane, the scene in which Kane initially takes over the newspaper and appears in the doorway of his "new" office, demonstrates the camera's ability to highlight the importance and power behind Kane's new venture. The close-up shot of Kane in his new position and the "hype" in Kane's voice as he rattles off the amendments and goals that he has for the newspaper demonstrates supremacy and authority. In this particular instance, gender and class are definitely portrayed as we see the congregation of all white males on the scene. The narrative aspect of the filmis fulfilled as Kane's success is displayed through an extremelyfast motion of headlines accompanied by music, which enhances the "visual on the screen." This technique and use of sound effects align perfectly with documentary conventions used in modern day cinema. Also, the beginning of the film in its efforts to portray a dismal, deserted, as well as mystical, place leading up to the "No Trespassing" sign could definitely be associated with old horror films that are centered around an enormous mansion covered with spider webs and dust sitting on a steep hill. The fade-in leading to the "No Trespassing" sign, low-key lighting, and veiled setting is what keeps the spectator literally"in the dark" until the plot unfolds. This is most significant theme, in terms of the manner in which the film is arranged, occurs as a search centered around Kane's last word, "Rosebud."  The notion of power, success, and authority of the white male is also exhibited in the scene where Mrs. Kane signs her son over to Thatcher. This deep-focus shot results in the implication that the mother is powerless, left with no alternative but to give her son up for a "better life." Although, the 
mother is emphasized in the framing of this scene and the father is allowed very little input in the decision, Welles does not place the spotlight on the mother anywhere else in the film, which is exemplary of her lack of power as a female character. After viewing the film for the first time, last 

semester, and viewing it again this semester, my initial lack of enthusiasm for its overall content became more apparent as I further studied the elements of the film and the roles of the characters. Based on Welles' Citizen Kane and the intent of the Inquirer to promote the "truth," I am puzzled by the acclaimed "brilliance" of the film, due to its denigration of the significance of women and noteworthy multicultural roles in the "newspaper world." Certainly, truth cannot be one-sided, given the "salad bowl" society in which we inhabit.