Who Is Citizen Kane? | The Meaning(s) Of Rosebud (Video Essay)

[@pankhurijoshi9472]

What a wonderfully written, narrated and edited analysis! So comprehensible but also incredibly smart. Loved the part about the composition of the scene and the power structures it signified. Certainly made me think more about the film.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much :)

[@merttimur123]

This could be the best explanation of the movie. The maximum that a reviewer can explain because everything about it is explained here. When 10/10 writing and 10/10 directing come together maybe the best of all time movie comes out

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you so much! Your comment made my day. Also, 10/10 for Greg Toland's incredible cinematography!

[@merttimur123]

@@CinemaAbsurdist everything is 10/10 😄. You are an amazing channel keep the good work up!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

@@merttimur123 Thank you so much! Will definitely try to keep bringing good content to you!

[@mrplatink]

The way you highlighted Kane and Thatcher's relationship was brilliant. I need to watch the movie again, seeing it "anew", realizing now that there is ALWAYS a "sled" in between them: Kane, throughout his life, sees Thatcher as his "beloved antagonist," the one who afforded him opportunity, as well as robbed him of his mother. And Rosebud, the seal to bind these two together, both makes and breaks Kane. Rosebud is Kane at his purest; Rosebud is where his failures, namely his ownership by Thatcher, began. Rosebud is all, and the sled is in every scene, though invisible.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Great point!

[@MrMakingwavesmedia]

I wrote a paper on this film in University for my film degree and this is a perfect synopsis. Well done.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@kennethpeng7113]

Hey I’m currently also wiring on this film. Would u mind helping?

[@JamalKhan-ou9mz]

I don't usually comment on videos. But this was a terrific video, well done!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@christopheryoung1878]

Really explained a lot about the film and made me appreciate the symbolism of Welles’s camera work.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you! Props to Greg Toland too!

[@bonscott602]

A snow board I'd kept from my daughter's childhood brought me here. That snow board ended up gone by accident and it made me think of rosebud. How important certain things mean in our lives. We too often discount inadvertently certain things lost. At the time, they don't seem that important, but after the loss, it's then we realise how much we miss them. I guess the loss is the only true way we realise the importance. We should take more time before we discount something and really think about how we will feel if we let something go.

[@nutcracker2916]

Surely if it's stored in our memory the possession becomes immaterial so to speak.

[@bonscott602]

@@nutcracker2916 good point.

[@luismaldonado4989]

This was awesome and got me thinking even more about this timeless masterpiece!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much!

[@antakalipa]

Great video, wonderful analysis. The meaning of "Rosebud" was haunting me. Now I appreciate the film even more. What a masterpiece!

[@arytaco5380]

Just watched Citizen Kane for the first time and can’t stop learning more about it. Your video is one of the most informative, engaging and interesting pieces about the masterful film. It’s truly the Citizen Kane of Citizen Kane essays. Well done, sir!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much :)

[@johndoe4073]

Amazing analysis for an amazing film! 5:15 really stood out. Thank you for making this!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[@kindregardless]

Welles made this film in his 20's. Fucking incredible

[@joannejohnson858]

Incredibly interesting and very well put together!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you so much!

[@andrewwoodward8563]

For real man this is an amazing breakdown. Thank you.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

@@andrewwoodward8563 Thanks a lot :)

[@LilCrashOutFr]

I have no idea why you only have 00 subscribers bruh. That observation of authoritative figures on both sides, and him evolving into being the authority was genius.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you so much for your kind words :)

[@abbybond8663]

This was an incredible analysis. Can't wait to see your other work!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@AH-is5yg]

I see that Kane's mother had good intentions and try to do what's best for him; however, she unintentionally did more harm than good. She and Thatcher took the choice away from and made decisions for him while he was a child.

[@hippojuice23]

"I have had his bags packed for a week, now.." She's eerily-cold for someone's dear mother. Also sounds like she KNEW about sending Charles before her (drunken?) husband who seems emotional and (obviously) abusive.

[@AH-is5yg]

@@hippojuice23 she knew it wasn't the best choice but wanted her son to have a better life. Talk about irony that caused Charles to see things differently.

[@simpooishere]

You connected the dots so perfectly. Thanks a lot.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much :)

[@TheBT123456]

I did a paper in a film critics class. For the most part, I agree with the topics brought up and the relation to Rosebud. But actually, as we all know Welles was a masterful genius with symbology so, I will offer something to ponder. On the 1st Christmas after being in the care of his guardian, he received his second sled. There are only two frames that show the name of that sled. Crusader was the name, freezeframe it and you will see. My paper was contrasting the Crusader that Kane became rather than the innocence of his youth with Rosebud. My point is that the Crusader was the motivation for his life, feverish unrequited love for the underdog, and not Rosebud. He was forced to leave Rosebud behind as he had left the first sled by its name. But that yes, in the end, he missed his innocent youth, motherhood, and apple pie, to the point of his dying word. Of all the material things in his life, he could not have that simple sled...Rosebud and the different life that could have been.

[@Hastings_Farm]

You give an incredibly powerful insight to one of the greatest and possibly most complex movies ever made. I believe that in making the film Orson Wells gave a reflection of life within the story that he told. It is just the bones that is brilliantly made and told. You have added flesh giving a unique and very interesting interpretation of the way in which everyone got to where they were in the film. In many ways it is just a love story between Charlie Kane and his second wife Susan. Because of the early absence of his mother’s love, if that ever existed, he never learned to love a woman. Everything harks back to the final moment as a chid when with his sledge ‘Rosebud’, the chance for him to learn love from his mother was callously taken away. His father impotently stood by and watched being powerless to intervene. Almost as a ghost, his father’s impotency in him reoccurs at key turning points in his life. Brilliant film and very thoughtful review which adds real flesh to the bones.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much, you have deeply humbled me :)

[@Hastings_Farm]

​@@CinemaAbsurdist Not at all, the essence of a really great film is the discussion that it generates considering the issues that arise. As a story it is possibly fanciful as reality took a leave of absence. The power is within the interaction between the characters as the tale unfolds. In a modern context, one can only wonder whether there are similarities between Charles Foster Kane and Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. Neither would appear to have love as a child and both ruthlessly sought it throughout their lives. Kane in a benign way and Putin with ruthless cruelty towards a nation that wants self-determination and freedom for its citizens. Interesting that Citizen Kane was Donald John Trump’s favourite movie. One can only wonder whether he saw himself in Kane. He is very much a man seeking love throughout his life with little evidence of having received any as a child.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

@@Hastings_Farm very interesting points, thank you for sharing them!

[@pppppaulo]

amazing analysis, keep going you will grow

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much!

[@daveparsons5630]

It's really just about the loss of innocence. Every other detail is secondary to that and simply adds more detail. It was only when I had children that I realised how magical childhood really is.

[@vikneshwarvicky3103]

This movie making me sad.getting my childhood memories back😞😞...this masterpiece💔

[@samadolphmediaportfolio3830]

Thanks for making this. Such a sweeping universal meaning this film has. Was great to hear you expand on it.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@luishumbertovega3900]

Excellent analysis, the film is full of symbolic images and movements I wasn't aware of until now that I've heard your explanations, Thank You !!!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much :)

[@ajronin4710]

Awesome explanation.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@amrishjaiswal3204]

This is a fantastic review! Love your style. The analysis is sound, crisp & heartfelt. Look forward to more of this...👏👏

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much! Made my day :)

[@brianmcguire8605]

Brilliant review, with refreshing analysis. Well done, sir, I commend you.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much!

[@333arianna]

nice analysis, keep it up!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@ajronin4710]

Rewatched it before mank.

[@c.a.savage5689]

Very good analysis that uses actual scenes from the film to support his point of view. Well done! 👏

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@mugunthanjothiraman5075]

Best explanation. I never observed those details while watching the movie until seeing this video. Hats off sir!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you so much!

[@BigSpence225]

Great analysis! Makes me appreciate the movie so much more

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@mohamedfakhro3594]

Excellent analysis

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@prashbigbo9547]

Great video buddy 💯🙌, ur all videos are great, Plssss upload more and more videos.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you, I will get back to posting soon :)

[@chintanwadhwa]

Loved it!! Can't wait for the next one

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@joeomalley2835]

This is fascinating. I have watched this film at least 5 times and I was perplexed. This is a film that grows on the viewer. I wasn't impressed with it the first time I watched, but have really come to regard this film as a cinematic work of art. And, this is an epic explanation of Rosebud, and very deep. Thanks for the commentary on this.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked this video! I agree completely about the film. It gets better with every watch.

[@CherissePlair]

This was an excellent review of the movie! Well done!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@nicholasmartin-bourne9828]

absolutely amazing video!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much!

[@alfonsoospino5726]

Amazing review, I suscribed

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thanks for the sub!

[@madhands9887]

Great review

[@kab333r]

to the point analysis. loved it.

[@sempremcima]

This is absolutely perfect. Congratulations.

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much :)

[@mysteriousboy3531]

Just fabulous bro Great job 👍🏻

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@somewhereinbetween]

i have to write a paper on this film and this video is super helpful thank u!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MashalKhanBaltiVlogs]

BEST REVIEW! LOVE IT

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you so much!

[@ezdude7230]

incredible analysis. maybe for the next video let your words ring out before cueing the outro!

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you! Will keep this in mind for the next one!

[@JS-xz7lk]

I always think of Roseburg the town I was born in... That like some dullision I have built up some mad interconnected mythos of epic grandiose proportions. Anywhoo it would really mean nothing if this wasn't such a great film. @&^$ props to the uploaders explanation

[@JS-xz7lk]

For abit more of my mainly off basis/topic... The Croatian kuna... Their dollar equivalent, looks and sounds semi similar to Kane. The 5 lipa coin has oak leaf with acorns on it and "quercus robur" written (red or strong oak in Croatian) This also links to Roanoke and croatowan @&^$ Mind the spelling before the Mongolian capital Xanadu was karakorum I won't illustrate the lesser similarities of connections my brain just seems to see... Karak (kan sorta mirrored on itself) and orum/Orson Just for a candid example. I'm not trying to be some Stupid troll I'm attempting an artsy expression of appreciation..... @&^$ thanks

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

How uncanny! I see a lot of myself in Kane's life too. Perhaps not as larger-than-life as him though.

[@bodhisoha]

It's more than just the end of innocence. It is realizing that his mother did not love him unconditionally. This film is, by Orson Welles' own words, meant as a sociological statement about the modern "acquisitive" (Orson Welles own word) society and its destruction of the nuclear family and its sacred, spiritual bonds. Please read Robert Bly's take on this very subject in "Iron John". This is the most poignant condemnation of industrial, post-agragrian society in contemporary culture. It is the final twist of the "mother complex". Another film dealing with the same subject but set in pre-industrial Europe is Kubrick's masterpiece "Barry Lyndon". These two films are perhaps the finest films ever made, certainly the most acutely psychological and intelligent.

[@BigTimeShowdown]

Very good.

[@anthonyranieri2631]

excellent

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you!

[@HamzaKhanCollective]

holy shit this is absolutely amazing

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you so much!

[@rollzolo]

I like when Kane and the undertaker were tag team partners

[@papl00papl00]

He was Jerry Lawler's dentist for a bit

[@MohnishSinghOfficial]

Thank you 🖤📽️🚬

[@jadedheartsz]

"It was his sled from when he was a kid, there I just saved you two long boobless hours!"

[@taniavlogs1014]

Rosebud was his true friend true pleasure... Finally he realized that he should pass his time with his true friend true pleasure with innocence...

[@MannyEspinola-q4t]

Jesus, that's Endora (Agnes Moorehead) playing young Kane's mother.

[@joyderose2862]

bravo！thanks！

[@taniavlogs1014]

Nothing made him happier than his earlier life

[@RCSxMaverick]

I have never watched the film, but it makes me want to now. Lol

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you! Do check it out, it's a great film!

[@uhadme]

Imagine being cast out of your crib, into the reality of life? Nobody took my sled away, my parents or anything, I never had that. So I see him and Michael Jackson as very lucky, they have something to miss.

[@vedatgok9921]

Very good comment!!

[@terrysikes6638]

OH! He said, "Rosebud!" I thought he said, "nosebleed."

[@sebastianflores4758]

Rosebud

[@EddieLensweiger]

thanks i didn't pay much attention to certain detail like trapping angle in those two scenes, that's so thoughtful! they spoke too much and fast can't divide my concentration to the look detail and to what they say... this film is less attractive and less enjoyable compared to Hitchcock's or Charlie Chaplin's, but they named it the highest rated film ever, second behind Paddington 2!!!! shocking

[@Rhombohedral]

Rosebud gave us Margret

[@pragyadhungana6984]

Rosebud is object petit a for Kane. That's all

[@KookyGordon]

I never even watched the movie.

[@g1y3]

Indian?

[@seansmith6255]

Great analysis

[@CinemaAbsurdist]

Thank you very much!