The question isn’t whether Citizen Kane is one of the greatest films ever made; that’s a given. The question is whether it’s THE greatest.
Video:
After living for so many years with the aforementioned video tapes of the movie, none of them of especially noteworthy quality, Warners´ newly found and restored print is a godsend. Indeed, it may even be better than the film stock I saw so long ago, although here memory does not serve me so well. There´s a not a blemish to be found in this fresh, 1.33:1 ratio transfer, which retains most of the 1.37:1 image. What´s more important, the black-and-white contrasts are startlingly vivid, Toland´s photography keeps both background and foreground people and objects in crystal clear focus, and moiré effects are minor and generally unnoticeable. For all I know, the film probably never looked this good when it was originally shown in motion-picture theaters.
Audio:
The audio, rendered via Dolby Digital monaural, having undergone some apparent noise reduction sounds almost as clean and clear as the picture is sharp, with little discernible background hiss. The vocals are slightly pinched, and the overall volume level is a tad lower than we find in most movies, but even cranked up the sound is excellent.
Extras:
Warners´ special two-disc set (which does not advertise itself as a "special edition" but most definitely is one, a nice touch of modesty for a big studio) includes a multitude of valuable bonus features. Disc one contains the feature film, accompanied by the choices of two audio commentaries. The first is with film director and Welles biographer Peter Bogdanovich, who has spoken lovingly before on the subject of his hero and sometime mentor. The second commentary is with film critic Roger Ebert, who spares us no apologies in his unabashed affection for the movie. Both men supply knowledgeable insights, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and revealing observations on the filmmaking process. There´s quite a difference between listening to an actor talking about an insignificant film and a pair of experts providing important information about one of the world´s greatest films. Bogdanovich, for example, tells us that Welles told him that many of the camera angles he and Toland worked out, so discussed and admired today as symbolic and meaningful, were produced simply because they looked good to Welles. OK, so maybe the guy was just lucky; in any event, everything worked. It´s hard to make a choice between the two commentaries; I´d suggest if you have the time listening to both of them. I found myself flipping back and forth; when one fellow would pause for a moment, I´d click over to the other. That way I got to hear essentially what both men said about the same scenes.
Anyway, in addition to the commentaries there´s a 1941 movie premiere newsreel, a gallery of storyboards, rare photos, alternate ad campaigns, studio correspondence, call sheets, and other memorabilia; thirty-one scene selections; and a theatrical trailer. English is the only spoken language available, but English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese are provided for subtitles.
Disc two contains the wonderful, 1995 PBS documentary, "The Battle Over Citizen Kane," which is almost as long at 113 minutes as the two-hour feature film itself. The documentary, of course, chronicles the struggles between Hearst and Welles over the film and its content, two titans of their time in a clash of super egos. Today, Hearst is a footnote, Welles a curiosity, and "Citizen Kane" a monument. The movie outlives them both. The documentary is offered with chapter titles and the option of English subtitles. This second disc concludes with a Welles filmography. The DVD packaging, by the way, is the first I´ve seen from Warner that is something other than their usual snapper case. The two "Citizen Kane" discs are housed in a handsome cardboard-and-plastic fold-out container tucked into a cardboard slipcase. The discs themselves are rather difficult to extract from their plastic spindles, but other than that the whole affair looks good.
Parting Thoughts:
It´s been written that the 1941 Academy Awards audience hissed and booed the film´s nine Oscar nominations--for Best Picture, Actor, Director, Writing, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Scoring, and Sound Recording. It managed only to win for its screenplay, mainly, it´s surmised, because it was co-written by Mankiewicz. The movie made Orson Welles forever a living legend, yet because of the movie´s unwarranted notoriety he was also forever an outcast in Hollywood. As an aside, William Randolph Hearst III, the old man´s grandson, said in 1985 that he had always enjoyed "Citizen Kane" and that Welles was invited to visit the Hearst Castle, San Simeon, anytime he pleased "on my tab." I suppose time heals all wounds. In the case of "Citizen Kane," time and technology have also helped improve upon a good thing.
After living for so many years with the aforementioned video tapes of the movie, none of them of especially noteworthy quality, Warners´ newly found and restored print is a godsend. Indeed, it may even be better than the film stock I saw so long ago, although here memory does not serve me so well. There´s a not a blemish to be found in this fresh, 1.33:1 ratio transfer, which retains most of the 1.37:1 image. What´s more important, the black-and-white contrasts are startlingly vivid, Toland´s photography keeps both background and foreground people and objects in crystal clear focus, and moiré effects are minor and generally unnoticeable. For all I know, the film probably never looked this good when it was originally shown in motion-picture theaters.
Audio:
The audio, rendered via Dolby Digital monaural, having undergone some apparent noise reduction sounds almost as clean and clear as the picture is sharp, with little discernible background hiss. The vocals are slightly pinched, and the overall volume level is a tad lower than we find in most movies, but even cranked up the sound is excellent.
Extras:
Warners´ special two-disc set (which does not advertise itself as a "special edition" but most definitely is one, a nice touch of modesty for a big studio) includes a multitude of valuable bonus features. Disc one contains the feature film, accompanied by the choices of two audio commentaries. The first is with film director and Welles biographer Peter Bogdanovich, who has spoken lovingly before on the subject of his hero and sometime mentor. The second commentary is with film critic Roger Ebert, who spares us no apologies in his unabashed affection for the movie. Both men supply knowledgeable insights, behind-the-scenes anecdotes, and revealing observations on the filmmaking process. There´s quite a difference between listening to an actor talking about an insignificant film and a pair of experts providing important information about one of the world´s greatest films. Bogdanovich, for example, tells us that Welles told him that many of the camera angles he and Toland worked out, so discussed and admired today as symbolic and meaningful, were produced simply because they looked good to Welles. OK, so maybe the guy was just lucky; in any event, everything worked. It´s hard to make a choice between the two commentaries; I´d suggest if you have the time listening to both of them. I found myself flipping back and forth; when one fellow would pause for a moment, I´d click over to the other. That way I got to hear essentially what both men said about the same scenes.
Anyway, in addition to the commentaries there´s a 1941 movie premiere newsreel, a gallery of storyboards, rare photos, alternate ad campaigns, studio correspondence, call sheets, and other memorabilia; thirty-one scene selections; and a theatrical trailer. English is the only spoken language available, but English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese are provided for subtitles.
Disc two contains the wonderful, 1995 PBS documentary, "The Battle Over Citizen Kane," which is almost as long at 113 minutes as the two-hour feature film itself. The documentary, of course, chronicles the struggles between Hearst and Welles over the film and its content, two titans of their time in a clash of super egos. Today, Hearst is a footnote, Welles a curiosity, and "Citizen Kane" a monument. The movie outlives them both. The documentary is offered with chapter titles and the option of English subtitles. This second disc concludes with a Welles filmography. The DVD packaging, by the way, is the first I´ve seen from Warner that is something other than their usual snapper case. The two "Citizen Kane" discs are housed in a handsome cardboard-and-plastic fold-out container tucked into a cardboard slipcase. The discs themselves are rather difficult to extract from their plastic spindles, but other than that the whole affair looks good.
Parting Thoughts:
It´s been written that the 1941 Academy Awards audience hissed and booed the film´s nine Oscar nominations--for Best Picture, Actor, Director, Writing, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Scoring, and Sound Recording. It managed only to win for its screenplay, mainly, it´s surmised, because it was co-written by Mankiewicz. The movie made Orson Welles forever a living legend, yet because of the movie´s unwarranted notoriety he was also forever an outcast in Hollywood. As an aside, William Randolph Hearst III, the old man´s grandson, said in 1985 that he had always enjoyed "Citizen Kane" and that Welles was invited to visit the Hearst Castle, San Simeon, anytime he pleased "on my tab." I suppose time heals all wounds. In the case of "Citizen Kane," time and technology have also helped improve upon a good thing.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]8111[/release]