Thursday, February 20, 2020
Jigsaw Narrative
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?
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In the movie Citizen Kane, the story of the Charles Foster Kane’s life is narrated by the people that lived around him providing un-biased perspective and unique views of the life of Citizen Kane. Orson Welles structured the narrative of Citizen Kane to appear as a news real would, a biography that recounts the life of Kane as a fact in chronological order. But Citizen Kane switches each film real with the perspective of the people around Kane, recounting how they viewed him through camera angles, dialogue and lighting to portray Kane from different points of view. This jigsaw narration can recount the details that often a single author or outside source will miss and increase the understanding for the audience. Bernstein’s perspective is one of great value towards Kane, viewing him as a smart business person and a leader for the underrepresented. This often leads to the scenes with both of them including a lot of low angle shots that increase the stature of Kane making him appear as an insurmountable figure in the life Bernstein. This differs form the view of Susan Alexander who recounts her tales of Kane filled with violence and the abusive relationship between them, highlighting the evil sides of Kane. We will see Susan often appear smaller next to Kane, such as her sitting on the ground or Kane in the Audience booths above her, showing the power disparity between the two. Jigsaw narration allows for better portrait of Kane’s life where every stroke is different and defined often producing a sum greater than its parts.
ReplyDeleteThe multiple narrators in Citizen Kane add more to the story than just an interesting format by demonstrating the different views people had on Kane. Through each interview, the viewer learns more and more about the type of person Kane was, first seeing him as an naive and reckless boy in the eyes of Thatcher and then as the controlling and abusive husband in the eyes of Susan. Telling the story in this manner better shows how complex people can be and how different people see you in different lights. This is most shown by the opinions of Bernstein and Leland, who were both close coworkers and friends of Kane. Bernstein idealizes Kane, demonstrated by how in his flashback, he talks highly of Kane and we only see his successes. Bernstein is introduced in his office where a huge painting of Kane hangs over him. We see Kane celebrating the success of manipulating the public opinion on the Spanish-American War by dancing with women at a big banquet for the Inquisitor and him getting married to Emily. From Berstein’s point of view, Kane could do no wrong. Leland, on the other hand, sees Kane to be somewhat of an egomaniac who wants to be loved by the people he claims to fight for the rights of. This is shown by how we see Kane’s failures and delusions of grandeur. We see Kane’s failure in losing the election and how his marriage falls apart. Leland directly calls Kane out when it comes to how he treats the working class American in how he believes they belong to him. The camera angles further demonstrates Kane’s ego by filming him through an extreme low angle after he has lost the election, creating the illusion of power when he stands upon an empire of ash. This jigsaw narrative allows for the viewer to get a better image of who Kane was a person than if we were to just learn about him through one perspective. We wouldn’t know how he forced Susan to continue with her singing career to the point of attempted suicide because her quitting would humiliate her if we only heard the story from Bernstein. We wouldn’t get to learn of how Kane had to leave his original family to be able to obtain the Inquisitor if we only heard the story from Raymond. By hearing the story of Kane from all of the people whose lives were affected, for better or worse, by him, it allows the story to be more than just the sum of its parts.
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