Multiple narrators tell he story of Charles Foster Kane's life. We see his life in a newsreel format, in Thatcher's memoirs, and as told by Bernstein, Leland, Susan Alexander, and even Raymond, the butler. What is the point of telling the story in this way? Does each narrator give a specific "spin" or have a particular bias? Does each see a distinctive aspect of Kane's personality? Is each section told in a different way, utilizing different techniques of filming (such as camera angles, deep focus, lighting, or even choice of music)? What" bang for our buck" do we get from this jigsaw narration? Is it equal to or greater than the sum of its parts?
ReplyDeleteCitizen Kane’s jigsaw narrative approach allows the viewer to receive multiple perspectives on Charles Kane and ultimately realize the essence of the film. Kane is an extremely complex character who clearly undergoes extreme change throughout the movie. Just as any person working towards success might encounter, Kane’s character becomes money-driven and his relationships burn out. The viewer is given flashes of Kane’s dark side as Susan Alexander recounts the controlling power dynamic in their relationship. When Bernstein tells the viewer his memories of Kane, we get an idolized business mastermind with incessant ambition. Through all of these different perceptions, the viewer begins to develop their own opinion about who Kane is or rather who he is becoming. I think Orson Welles does this in order to further complicate Kane’s character and create a fog over his true identity. Once the viewer discovers what Rosebud really means, their idea of who Kane is, the idea they’ve been developing throughout the entirety of the film, is shot. Personally, I believe Welles didn’t want his viewer to believe that Kane was truly unhappy or to comment on the materialistic nature of money, but rather to accentuate that Kane is deeply misunderstood. Everyone around him seems to see him as business tycoon who wanted to succeed more than he wanted to be happy. I think in Kane’s mind success and happiness were always something he fused together and thought would happen mutually. Kane kept reaching for more success thinking that one day he’d reach a level where he felt true happiness but instead, he reached the day of his death. The day where he realized he was happiest when his stress was rooted in finding a big enough hill instead of making a fortune.
Although the life may have been lived by a single person, the story of that life cannot be told by a single one. This is the case for everyone and anyone’s life, and especially that of Charles Foster Kane. It is truly impossible to understand who someone is by one perspective. In the case of Charles Foster Kane, a person like Susan Alexander is going to have very different feelings about Kane than someone such as Raymond. For Susan Alexander, Kane was once a lover, but no longer. From her story, both Kane’s loving side (in the beginning), and eventually his more bitter side. Raymond on the other hand was Kane’s butler and therefore didn’t see those sides of Kane, rather just from the perspective of being an employee. Although a key piece that Raymond was apart of was he was the one who heard the final words of Kane, “Rosebud.” It is because of Raymond, that we find what may have been the last truly happy memory for Charles Foster Kane. Likewise, with characters like Bernstein, Kane, was a very different man to them then he was to Susan and Raymond. It is because of this Puzzle piece like narrative that we are able to get bits and pieces to help understand the man that was Charles foster Kane. This story would never have had the same meaning if only one side of the story was told. The more pieces that we are given, the more we are able to understand someone’s life.
ReplyDeleteThe jigsaw narrative serves the purpose to show multiple perspectives, which is closer to the truth than one single story. People’s narratives and truths come from their experiences, which differ from each person. Citizen Kane comments on the idea that multiple narratives together show an accurate and more detailed picture. Similar to a jigsaw puzzle, one cannot simply use the same shape pieces; one needs all of the different pieces to construct the entire picture. Although each of the characters are telling their truths, they are also biased based on their specific experience and relation to Charles Foster Kane. For example, Bernstein talks about what an amazing and successful person Kane was. His memories working for Kane are tainted with the bias of his awe. In addition to awe, some of the stories were biased against Kane. Susan Alexander, Kane’s second ex-wife, tells the story through a lens of hatred and fear towards Kane. Alexander was forced to sing opera in front of large crowds because Kane wanted more publicity. The negative reviews from the press and the constant pressure from Kane drove her to the point of suicide. Additionally, the use of high camera angles making Alexander look weak in front of Kane demonstrates the uniqueness of the bias behind her story, because no other story had a similar power dynamic. Although leaving out Kane’s story leaves a large gap in the puzzle, bringing multiple narratives together is already a large part of the truth. The entire story is not just about Kane, rather how his life affected the people around him and their memories. Although not perfect, the biased truths of the different narrators achieve more of a truth than a single story.
ReplyDeleteThe jigsaw narrative structure of the film Citizen Kane attempts to convey the message that one man’s story cannot be told by a single perspective. The film follows the complex evolution of Charles Foster Kane, a man who becomes completely enveloped in his work and money as he builds his newspaper industry. In order to tell his story, Orson Wells includes the perspectives of several characters at different points in Kane’s life, illuminating how different one man can be depending on the perspective. Wells also uses film techniques to convey the changes Kane goes through. Early on in the film, viewers see Kane as a young boy, innocently playing in the snow. In that same scene is his mother inside of the house, discussing plans to move away to escape her abusive husband. The film uses the technique deep focus to ensure that every part of the shot is clear, and emphasis the power differential between Kane and the adults in the scene. At this point, Kane has no control over the events happening in his life. In contrast, later in the film viewers get a glimpse of his abusive marriage with opera singer Susan Alexander, where Kane now holds the power in the relationships in his life. Wells conveys this change by using a low camera angle when the shot is on Kane, demonstrating his abuse of power. Without these different perspectives and jigsaw narrative, Kane be incomplete as it would neglect to address all of the pieces that make up his complex story.
ReplyDeleteThe most powerful part of using the jigsaw narrative is creating a storyline that has an incredible amount of depth. There is no character, even Charles himself, who knows the full truth of who Kane was. As Charles was presented as a man with animated emotions, different demeanors were emphasized depending on who he was interacting with. Outside of using the context of all the interviewees to piece together a somewhat complete picture of who Kane might have been, viewers are able to focus in one a single narrative and change the focus of the film during every re-watch. For example, Susan’s viewpoint leads us to believe that Kane is a manipulative narcissist who is using everyone around him to gain fortune, power, and the fulfillment he had lost after his childhood. Despite the pandering viewpoint of characters like Bernstein, his kindness and sense of self righteousness can still be twisted to seem controlling. And because Kane is an incredibly complicated figure (as well as being dead), no one viewpoint can be considered the true personality of Kane. The importance and non-importance of each major character’s experiences with Kane perfectly reflects the Rosebud narrative core to the film. Even though every way to look at Kane is valid, they are all pieces to a complicated man, and although every aspect makes up what comes to be the public understanding of his personality, the individual pieces of Kane are still just small parts of a complex person with an untangle-able life.
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