Aubrey Roberts

Citizen Kane as Film Noir

Directed and produced by Orson Welles, Citizen Kane is known as a
sophisticated and classical masterpiece and is possibly the worlds most highlyrated film. Topping off its budget around $842,000, Citizen Kane became one of
the most anticipated films of its time. Orson Welles use of innovative cinematic
and narrative techniques gave Citizen Kane the audience heart. Politically, many
viewed that the life of Citizen Kane has too obvious resemblances to the life of
Citizen [Randolph] Hearst (Time Magazine, 2). Because many saw Citizen
Kane as unfavorably representing the life of William Hearst and since it has yet
to be booked by a major chain distributor, many movie-goers had never got the
chance to view Citizen Kane (Time Magazine, 2). Socially, Hollywood feared the
heavily talented youngster [Orson Welles], gave much of the credit for Kane to
Cameraman Gregg Toland, who photographed it (Time Magazine, 2). Hollywood
now realized, with great disdain, that Orson Welles was its most influential and
challenging outsider. Citizen Kane was not only hindered by Hollywood, but also
by the historical crisis known as World War II. Due to the war, Citizen Kane was
not a commercial success and its viewing was delayed throughout Europe
(especially Francedue the Nazi restrictions on American films). Later, Citizen
Kane was re-released after World War II and got its well-deserved recognition.
Although Citizen Kane is often considered the greatest film of all time, it initially
did not attain the heart of the audience. At the time of its release, its innovative
style left many viewers puzzled and confused. Orson Welles use of black and

Roberts 2

white gave the film similar characteristics to that of German expressionism. This
film noir grabs its audience attention from the start with stylish and different
camera angles, positions, and movements.
Although many movie critics do not consider Citizen Kane as much of a
film noir as a film such as The Maltese Falcon, I believe that it has many of the
aesthetics that classifies a film as film noir. To give a small understanding of
what film noir is, one must return to post-World War II cinema. Film noir,
meaning black film, was first realized by French critics who noticed a reoccurring
trend within the American films after the war. Throughout the war, Nazicontrolled territories within France were not allowed to screen American films.
Once the war ended, French audiences were flooded with American films and
were startled by the changes within American cinema. They easily acknowledged
that these particular films did not follow the prewar classical Hollywood cinema
and that they all possessed similar stylistic elements and settings, common
character and narrative traits, and recurrent thematic concerns (Belton, 185).
American film had suddenly -from the French perspective, at least- turned
grimmer, bleaker, and blacker (Belton, 185). If the qualifies for a film to be
recognized as film noir is shadowy, low-key lighting, deep focus cinematography,
and distortion, then Citizen Kane should definitely be considered. Throughout the
film, Orson Welles continuously uses deep focus cinematography as well as lowkey lighting to enhance the mystery and creepiness of the movie. A few seconds
within the film, Orson Welles creates a distorted camera shot and angle using the
broken glass from the snowball to relay the image of the nurse entering the room.

Roberts 3

Later in the movie, a group of men are conversing about Charles Foster Kane and
the word rosebud, but, from the low-key lighting, the audience could not see any
of their faces.
Many film scholars agree on the fact that film noirs use low-key light,
wide-angle lenses, distorted, and had a complex narrative structure; Citizen Kane
differed in that fact that its narrative was not crime-related or its characters were
not placed in a criminal setting. Kane serves as a source for much of noirs
subsequent stylistic and narrative practice, though it lacks one ingredient crucial
to most definitions of noir (Belton, 190). The lack of this one crucial element
brings upon debates determining the validity of Citizen Kane being recognized as
film noir. I argue that although Citizen Kane does not portray any criminal
message, it still is a detective movie and with its aesthetic creativity, it easily fits
within the select films of film noir. In the film, Thompson is a detective trying to
unravel the mystery of rosebud and throughout majority he is either half-lit or
back-lit. This backlighting technique (since it illuminates the person from behind)
silhouettes the subject, producing shadows. The stylistic and aesthetic features
within Citizen Kane are directly comparable to films such as The Big Sleep and
The Maltese Falcon. These two films are regarded as primary films of the film
noir period. Although they both have a narrative revolving around crime, they
both show resemblance to Citizen Kanes mise-en-scene and editing style. Kane,
of course, is not a crime film and thus stands apart from noir in this important
respect; but in the way it tells its story, as well as in its visual idiom, the film

Roberts 4

contains many of the crucial elements that were to define noir technique (Hirsch,
1).
Aside from its mise-en-scene (the low-key lighting, dark setting and sets,
and the detective acting), one must consider other aspects of the film that displays
noir characteristics. In Citizen Kane, I think its cinematography and editing
features easily resembles that of a noir. Welles use of a deep-focus depth of field,
low camera angles, and tight framing, allows scholars to recognize his noir
techniques and his adaption of German Expressionism. As the low-key lighting
presents the film in light and shadows, its low camera angles distorts the
characters appearance and magnifies Charles Foster Kanes physical stature
(Hirsch, 1). This effect is notice in many other film noirs such as The Maltese
Falcon where Humphrey Bogarts character, detective Spade, is depicted as the
prestigious protagonist throughout the film. The low angle of the camera
combined with the tightness of the frame confines Kane prominent image within
this claustrophobic setting, another distinctive feature of film noirs. The use of
deep-focus cinematography is one of film noir adaptions from German
Expressionism. Although Welles uses a deep depth of field in various ways, I
found one way in particular to be interesting. From this use of deep-focus
cinematography, the audience can notice that several planes are remained in
focus, which I feel like would not have been the case in any films other than those
of film noir (post-World War II). The scene depicts Kanes mother signing a
contract with a gentlemen assisting her (foreground), the father at the door
(middle ground), and little Kane playing with snowballs outside through the

Roberts 5

window (background). This allows the audience to actually choose where to

focus their attention, although Welles directs their attention by having everyone
within the frame looking towards the signing of the contract. Although Welles
uses this technique beautifully, deep focus is subjective to confusing the viewers
because it does not direct their attention towards one particular issue. With deepfocus, Welles was able to create overlapping actions and created a more critical
mise-en-scene. Welles use of deep-focus cinematography is most effective in
scenes that illustrate Kanes loss of control and his peculiar loneliness because it
presents the audience with a clear view of the space Kane demands as well as the
space he has no power of. Besides the extravagant set designs and acting, Citizen
Kane consists of similar characteristics to that of German Expressionism. From its
low-key lighting to its askew camera angles, Citizen Kane reveals its adaption of
German Expressionism into the style of film noir.
Orson Welles used Noir features in his movie Citizen Kane, not only
because the movie was black and white, but also because it showed the inhumane
and dark side of human nature of the main character (Higham and Greenberg, 1).
This argument is indicating that all film noirs were not, only, created as black and
white as a stylish feature, but, also, as a resemblance of life during the war. This is
a sufficient argument that denies films that adopt the film noir style because they
are, merely, created on the basis of aesthetics. I find this dispute to only be a
premise of a much larger argument determining if film noir is a mode, genre, or
series.

Roberts 6

Film noir as a genre is not considered much by most scholars. The ones
who do consider it as a genre are mainly focusing on its iconography: dark city
streets glistening at night with fresh rain, fixed character types, and predictable
narrative patterns (Belton, 186). Although these scholars do view film noir as
genre that defined system structure, they also acknowledges its distinctive style
and for this matter I do not agree that film noir is a genre; there are several styles
and techniques within any given genre, not vice versa. Viewing film noir as a
series rather than genre is accepted more; somewhat like that of German
Expressionism. In this sense, there are many arguments emphasizing the fact that
many directors of the early film noirs did not intentionally set out to portray their
film as such. In comparison, German Expressionism was meant to create a
bizarre, psychological feel for its audience to resemble life within Germany
during the 1920s and 1930s. Since film noir evades the traditional boundaries
(creating noir westerns and noir gangster films), the evidence backing it as a genre
is becoming highly challenged. Viewer film noir as a mode is essentially viewer it
as a transition of its style. This way a film could be qualified as film noir without
actually having the same aesthetic features from start to finish. If any of these
arguments have any validity, then Citizen Kane should, incontestably, be a
member of considered as film noir. Whether one views film noir as a genre, series,
or mode, Citizen Kane presents all three categories within its diegesis. Not only
does Citizen Kane demonstrate several of film noir characteristics, but it was also
created during the post-World War II period and produces a specific emotional
response from its audience, fitting that of each theory.

Roberts 7

Works Cited Page

Belton, John. American Cinema/American Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill,
2009. Print
Crowther, Bosley. Orson Welles's Controversial 'Citizen Kane' Proves a
Sensational Film at Palace -- 'That Uncertain Feeling' at Music Hall -'Great American Broadcast' at Roxy. Citizen Kane. New York Times. 2
May 1941. <http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?
_r=2&res=9E00E3D6173AE33BBC4A53DFD366838A659EDE&scp=1
&sq=Bosley%20Crowther%20(Citizen%20Kane)&st=cse>. Web. 2
December 2010.
Higham, Charles, and Joel Greenberg. Hollywood in the Forties. New York:
Barnes, 1968. Print
Hirsch, Foster. The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir. San Diego: Barnes,
1981. Print
The New Pictures, Jul. 20, 1942. Time Magazine. 20 July 1942.
<http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796034-2,00.html>.
Web. 2 December 2010.
Jackson, Tony E. "Writing, Orality, Cinema: The 'Story' of Citizen Kane."
Narrative 16.1 (2008): 29-45. Print.