Thursday, February 20, 2020
Rosebud
Rosebud is perhaps the most famous symbol in movie history. What is the significance of the name "rosebud?" What is the significance of the sled? Is it the key to understanding Kane's life or just one missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle that does not explain much at all? A meaningful symbol or a MacGuffin? Are there other symbols in the film that are more meaningful or complement you reading of the sled (such as statues, jigsaw puzzles, Xanadu, etc)?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In Citizen Kane, the sled, better known as rosebud, symbolizes the lack of love that Charles Kane has in his life and his desperate attempts to find love. The first showing of the sled, before it becomes clear that it is rosebud, is when Charles is a child playing in the snow, blissfully unaware of the arrangements that his parents are making for him to live with a much wealthier man. While his biological parents are poor, they are his family, and he instinctively loves them and has strong connections to them. The name rosebud symbolizes the familial love and relationships that he has with his parents. When Charles’ new guardian, Thatcher, approaches him, he uses the sled to push Thatcher down to the ground; he attempts to use the love and bond associated with his family to protect himself from the new life that Thatcher promises. After Charles finally leaves with Thatcher, the sled is shown outside, becoming buried in the snow, a sign that the love he once had in his life is now gone and abandoned. Shortly after, Thatcher gives Charles a new sled named crusader, symbolizing the rigorous work that he will do as the owner of the Inquirer and through his campaign for governor. Both of these have no relation to love and are unable to satisfy his need for love that all people have. His marriages to Emily and Susan eventually fall apart due to the extent that his work consumes him. Even though he is one of the richest men in America, he cannot keep his wives nor himself happy. At the end of his life, he feels the crushing loneliness or void of love that he was never able to fill in his lifetime. He recounts the last and only time when he felt true love and innocence: playing outside with rosebud.
ReplyDeleteIn Citizen Kane, produced by Orson Welles the underlying idea of the entire film that drives the plot is this idea of Kane’s final word being Rosebud. We see through many different interviews that correspond with scenes that go back in time all the different people Kane had relationships with. In one of the first scenes that go back in time we see Kane playing outside at one of his happiest moments with his sled while his parents are talking to Thatcher about him taking Kane. We later find out toward the end of the movie that the sled we see in this scene was named Rosebud which again was his final word. I believe that the idea of Rosebud demonstrates his unconditional love for his mother and his inability to love anyone as much ever again. This sled was something that he always thought of throughout his life because it reminded him of the feeling of home and love which was stripped away from him at such a young age. After this scene, we see how there is never this feeling of love again throughout his life; one example of this are his failed marriages. When he loses the sled he basically loses his ability to love anything and anyone. Although he is seen to have a successful life, making incredible amounts of money and everyone wanting to be around him, the idea that he repeats Rosebud at the end of the movie tells the viewer that he never loved anything as much as the memories his sled, Rosebud, gave him about his young life at home with his mother.
ReplyDelete^John's Post
DeleteIn Citizen Kane, the sled, also known as rosebud, symbolizes the love and connection he had with his original family before it was stripped away from him by Thatcher. A specific scene in the film utilizes the deep focus technique to display the power structure present in the film. His biological mother and Thatcher are pictured in the foreground with the “most power” because they’re moving Kane to live with Thatcher, a far wealthier man. In the background of the scene, Kane as a child is seen with his sled, also known as rosebud, having no awareness towards what his biological parents are doing for him. From here, we see how Thatcher snatches his sled from Kane and drags him along with him leaving behind his true parents who he loved and had a deep connection with. From here, he’s introduced to the grind of running the Inquirer. He tries to seek for the same love he received from his parents before, but fails. His two failed marriages showcase how even being wealthy doesn’t help him attain the same love he once experienced as a child. Xanadu and the statues represent his failed attempts at saving his marriages. Statues are stone cold and don’t reciprocate in any manner. In the same way, Kane’s work life trumped his ability to keep his wives and himself happy. In the end, this inability to receive the love he once had leaves him remembering when he played with rosebud as a kid; the one time he felt love and happiness.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIn the film, Citizen Kane, the character Charles Kane's last words was a mysterious question throughout the movie. His last words were Rosebud, which later shows that Rosebud was printed on his childhood sled. The significance of Rosebud, the name of the sled, is that it represents Kane's innocent and normal childhood. So when his sled is taken away and replaced when his parents sign him off to live somewhere else, it represents how Kane's normal childhood was taken away from him and replaced with something that seemed better, but was not as important to him as his childhood. We see when Kane is introduced to his new sled, he does not seem very fond of it, even though it look to be brand new and of higher quality of his last one. This shows that wealth can corrupt a person and instead of gaining the benefits of the wealth, it just makes them crazy. This corruption is shown in the physical features and body language of Kane throughout time. For example, we see Kane's sanity after he is first married to his first wife and is complementing her at the dinner table. Yet by the end of the film, Kane has a wild rage and crazy eyes as he destroys his second's wife's bedroom. Even though at first, his life with money and power seems to be perfect, it is just a matter of time before all goes wild and crazy. In conclusion, the sled named Rosebud represented Kane's childhood and childhood innocence to reveal the corruption and power money can have.
In Orsen Welles’s film of Citizen Kane, where he both directed and was the lead actor, the word “Rosebud” is representative of the life and love that was never granted to Charles. A youthful Charles Kane is shown towards the beginning of the movie playing in the snow in the back while his parents are in the foreground signing their son away to Thatcher to escape both the father’s “thrashings” as well as receive a proper education as he tours the grand cities of America like Chicago. The sled is used as a prop during the introduction of Thatcher to Charles when the parents reveal to Charles that he is going to live with a stranger. Enraged, Charles pushes Thatcher over with the sled and drops it on the ground before running off. The camera then fades into a still frame of the sled lying on the cold-wintery snow covered hills outside Charles home. The sled was abandoned and left in the cold, similar to how Charles must have felt after his parents sent him away to live with a stranger. Throughout his entire life, Charles would continue to collect statues and artifacts along with other monetary goods. Charles spends the rest of his life searching for satisfaction in money, politics, public favor and even his own perverted version of love with his two wives are not enough to satisfy his lack of joy. The joy was stripped of him when he was just a young child on a cold snowy day similar to what his body was feeling as the warmth left his body as he lay on his deathbed, filled with remorseful nostalgia. As Charles explores all the world has to offer, he finds that nothing trumps what could have been. There is always something more to be had and this only makes Charles Kane, a wildly successful man when looked at from the outside, feel less in control and more power-hungry. The sense of brief power that was granted when Charles would accomplish something was enough to keep him trekking through the journey disregarding other’s thoughts and opinions, sustaining on only his ego. This miscued life that he leads is one that he ultimately regrets and loses grip of his dreams as the snow globe slips out of his hand, drops onto the floor and is smashed into pieces.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Citizen Kane, the Rosebud, the sled that Kane was given as a child, has a very symbolic meaning, which symbolizes the love that he had from his family before Thatcher took him. The sled symbolizes the life that he had with his original family where he was truly loved and felt cared for. When he was with Thatcher, he was never really loved which is why the whole movie led up to the reveal of Rosebud. Throughout the movie, it shows that Kane was never loved or cared for which caused him problems. There is a montage scene with his wife and it shows them growing apart because of his business in the newspaper. They start to grow apart because Kane does not know what it feels like to be loved because he lost everything he loved when he moved away with Thatcher. He put all of his heart into his work because that is the only reason he went with Thatcher was to become rich and get money. Although he completed the task of becoming rich, he never had his life fulfilled because he never felt the love that he did for Rosebud. It leads up to it because that was one of the only things he ever felt love for so that is why the movie led up to Rosebud and finding out what it was. The Rosebud was the only thing Kane ever loved and that is why the movie revolved around finding what Rosebud was.
ReplyDeleteIn Citizen Kane, Rosebud, or the sled, symbolizes the love and childhood he had taken away from him by Thatcher. An earlier scene in the film shows the power structure shown through the technique of deep focus. Thatcher and his biological mother are placed in the foreground with absolute power, because they are creating the plan to have Kane live with Thatcher. Kane’s mother does this allegedly for Kane to give him a better life as Thatcher is extremely rich, while Kane’s biological family is poor. Next, we see Thatcher take away his sled from Kane and removes him from his original family. After this Kane is prepped for the rest of his life to take over the Inquirer from Kane. He works his best to receive love from Thatcher just as how he did from his family. Sadly, Kane fails with Thatcher. Then Kane attempts to get love from women; marries twice and both result in divorce. Xanadu and the statues he buys represent his failures at maintaining a marriage. Like his statues, Kane is too cold and unable to reciprocate love in any fashion. This leaves Kane to have no one love him, resulting in only being able to hold onto the memory of love – Rosebud.
ReplyDeleteThe film, Citizen Kane, directed by Orsen Welles, depicts the life of a successful newspaper tycoon, Charles Foster Kane, as he ventures throughout his life. The film starts with Kane's death as he utters a simple, one-word adieu to the living world "rosebud." This word contains the key to Kane's life as it shows what his life could have been and it is a metaphor of him slowly spiraling into madness. What we come to learn of rosebud is that it is the sled that the audience saw Kane playing with at the beginning of the movie. This early scene shows Charles in high spirits as a deep focus shot sees Charles in the background, with rosy cheeks, playing and enjoying his simple life. However, moments later, his life is changed indefinitely with the proposition that Walter Parks Thatcher, a wealthy banker, gives to the parents of Kane. He offers to take Kane under his care and pays Charles' parents a large sum of money in return. After this, we see Thatcher come to greet the young Kane before he takes him away. In this scene, we can see Thatcher give Charles a new sled, crusader, representing the start of his new life under Thatcher's care. As Charles leaves with Thatcher, the camera zooms into rosebud, abandoned and covered in snow as Kane begins his new life as a crusader. The two sleds serve as symbols for what could have been Kane's life and what it ended up being. Rosebud signifies a happier and simple life for the young Kane as he blossomed into a caring and mature man. However, crusader represents the shift in Charles’ life, and ultimately the changing of sleds, a metaphor for Kane going into Thatcher's care, is the cause of Kane's descent into madness through his 3 life stages. The first stage still has Kane as a youthful man as he attempts to grow his brand as a newspaper man through the inquirer. He has exuberance and vitality in this stage of life. One scene that represents his early attitude perfectly is when he holds a party to celebrate the company’s success. We see his palpable energy as he dances and celebrates all his achievement in life and invites others to join him. This first stage with his successful business and marriage represents what could have happened in his "rosebud" life as his energy carries through life. However, his crusader lifestyle takes a turn for the worse as he enters his second stage of life, marked by his loss of the election. This stage of life shows the toll that the corporate life of being a newspaper tycoon as taken. After being in charge as a crusader of newspaper for so many years, he now takes this out in his relationship with Susan Alexander. Welles directs this change from a businessman working for the people into an obsessive and abusive husband perfectly. During this second stage in his crusader life, Kane is shown ripping up his declaration of principles for when he started the newspaper, this feat of rage showing his destruction of the last aspect of his "rosebud" identity. During this stage of life he literally drives his young wife to attempted suicide as he forces an opera career down her throat as the height of the crusader illness that Thatcher thrust on him breaks through. Eventually, this madness leads him to his third stage his life as he shuts himself and his wife inside of his private palace, Xanadu. Here, his whole life of crusading comes crashing down as he shrivels up inside his madness. He keeps himself shut in as his wife sits idly by, longing to leave. When she finally feels fed up and leaves, Kane throws a fit, trashing her room in a fit of rage until finally he picks up a snow globe, reminding himself of rosebud right before his death. We can imagine that right before his death, Kane reflected on what his life became and what is could have been, leaving us with his final remark "rosebud." Kane's final word is the key to everything in his life as we see what he could have become and what he did become with the sleds at the centerpiece.
ReplyDeleteIn Citizen Kane, Rosebud is a metaphor – a turning point in Charles Foster Kane’s life and shows what could have been. In the first scenes of the movie, we see a cheerful Kane playing with sled in the snow through a deep focus shot, unbeknown that his parents are currently selling him to his new guardian, Walter Parks Thatcher. As Kane is dragged away from his home, a close-up shot shows his beloved sled being buried under the snow. This shot is critical in the movie, as the entire scene is a metaphor of Kane’s future life: a rosebud, a rose that has yet to flower, represents Kane. The burial of the sled represents the burial of Kane – not literally, but figuratively, as he struggles to find his self-identity in life. Specifically, how Kane struggles to love, or even form relationships in general.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the movie, Kane starts off as a young, savvy businessman; beaming with confidence, swagger, and charisma. Life seems to be going very well for him. However, although business is booming, Kane’s relationships with his peers revolves around him and how much more status he has than them. Later in the movie, when Kane is of middle age, he marries a famous singer whom he hardly loves. Additionally, his lust for greater power leads him to a campaign run, at which he fails. Now an older man, Kane locks himself and his wife in his newly built palace, Xanadu. Finally, after a series of more unfortunate events, Kane passes away as his “less important” possessions are burnt in a fire – Rosebud amongst them. The burning of Rosebud completes the circle of Kane’s fate – a rose attempting to flower, but being buried under the snow and finally by the ashes.
Rosebud is perhaps the most famous symbol in movie history. What is the significance of the name "rosebud?" What is the significance of the sled? Is it the key to understanding Kane's life or just one missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle that does not explain much at all? A meaningful symbol or a MacGuffin? Are there other symbols in the film that are more meaningful or complement you reading of the sled (such as statues, jigsaw puzzles, Xanadu, etc)?
ReplyDeleteRosebud stands as a significant symbol for the happiness Kane had as a child before he was taken away from his parents. It is the only thing he was able to hold on to throughout his life and that memory defined him. The sled is important because when he is given a new sled by the man that takes him away, there is no longer any meaning to the sled he owns. It isn't truly his and it never will be because he will always be more invested in his past than in his present. The fact that rosebud was Kane's last word before he died just goes to show the importance of that memory. Throughout his entire life he was stuck in the past, stuck in his pure, innocent childhood state. He was never able to connect with anyone else or truly love ever since he got taken away from his family where he was truly happy. Another symbol shown in the film is the snow globe that falls from Kane's hand when he dies. This shows the link between his death and his childhood which is why he says rosebud in that last moment. In the snow globe is a peaceful and simple scene, something that Kane felt he had before being taken away by Thatcher. Ultimately, all the symbols in this film point back to how Kane's life was changed in a single moment. He went from believing he was in this perfect snow globe to being taken away from it and never recovering from that loss.