After watching North by Northwest last week, I kind of had a feeling of what Citizen Kane would be like as a film. Released in 1941, Citizen Kane details the rather broken life of a man Charles Foster Kane and the mysterious meaning of his final spoken word: “rosebud.” The film is told as a series of flashbacks and interviews. In the very beginning of the film, Kane’s mother strikes gold and suddenly becomes rich, causing her to hand over custody of her child to banker, Thatcher.

After becoming very rich, Kane became a newspaper typhoon, got married, and even decided to try getting into politics. However, as his wealth built up, we saw Kane become a frustrated and selfish person. He struggles with his relationships and treats people well to try to get love in return.

His final utterance of the word “rosebud” is revealed at the end of the movie, as it was the word written on his sled that he had when he was given to Thatcher. It was the only thing that he truly kept throughout his life. To me, it seems as if Kane could never get over the moment that he was given away and uses “rosebud” as a way to think about the potential happiness that he could have had if he had just been given the chance at a regular life.

While I am not always a huge fan of older films, I found the plot and direction of this film to be interesting, as it was told in a series of flashbacks. The film has some important messages as well, as it indicates that money does not always make people happy and can often destroy them. It also explains how much of an impact relationships can have on a person’s life.