citizen kane Essays -- essays research papers

Citizen KaneIn the movie Citizen Kane , young Charles Foster Kane is very energetic, optimistic and has a very positive outlook on life. At the same time he hates his old and bitter guardian, Mr. Thatcher, who has secluded himself from the everyday man and the only thing he is after is money and stature. Later on in life Charles Kane turns into an exact carbon copy of Mr. Thatcher, even though that is exactly what he wanted to get away from. In this essay I will prove how the used of sound, in the scenes in Thatchers library and Xanadu, as compared to the earlier scenes in young Kanes newspaper office, help found this development in Kanes character.The scene in Thatchers library starts off with the attendant being on the phone when the reporter walks in to tattle to her. The non-diegetic sound is scary and creepy at the same time. It sounds very unwelcoming and gives the impression of Mr.Thatcher as being the bad guy and his library not a practised place to be. At first glance we can see that it is a big hall with a huge statue of Mr. Thatcher. The floors are made out of stain and the first impression the audience gets of the room is that, it is very dark, cold and has a gloomy feel to it. The voices of the reporter and the attendant echo in the hall that gives us the impression of the place being very uninhibited and very uninviting, just as the personality of Mr. Thatcher. Once the reporter goes throug...