DISHA NISHAR SYBMM 3662

Comparative analysis of Narrative Techniques in Orson Welless Citizen Kane (1941) and Akira Kurosawas Rashomon (1950)
Introduction:
Rashomon this landmark film is a brilliant exploration of truth and human weakness. It opens with a priest, a woodcutter, and a peasant taking shelter from a downpour beneath a ruined gate in 12th-century Japan. The priest and the woodcutter, each looking stricken, discuss the trial of a notorious bandit for rape of the samurais wife and the murder of the samurai. Citizen Kane is widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. It is praised for many reasons, such as the groundbreaking camera techniques, the narrative devices, and the inspiration it had on other films. The story examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles, Kane's career in the publishing world is born of idealistic social service, but gradually evolves into a ruthless pursuit of power. Narrated principally through flashbacks, the story is revealed through the research of a newsreel reporter seeking to solve the mystery of the newspaper magnate's dying word: "Rosebud."

CITIZEN KANE
The difficulty of interpreting a persons life once that life has ended is the central theme of Citizen Kane. After viewing an in-depth, filmed biography of Kanes life, the producer of the biography asks his reporters a simple question: Who, really, was Charles Foster Kane? The producer recognizes that a man isnt necessarily the sum of his achievements, possessions, or actions, but that something deeper must drive him. His clue that Kane was more than his public accomplishments is the last word Kane uttered: Rosebud. Kanes life story unfolds in layers through the reporter Thompson's investigation and is told by a succession of people who were close to him. These various points of view are filled with peoples particular prejudices, and the recollections are ultimately ambiguous and unreliable. None of these people ever really knew what drove Kane to do the things he did. Judging by Kane's last word, the most important pieces of his life were not the things that made him newsworthy, such as his newspaper successes and political ambitions, nor his friendships and associations. Instead, as Kane's life comes to an end, he grasps at a memory from his childhood. His defining moment was the point where his life changed irrevocably for what appears to be the better, from a materialistic viewpoint, but which actually leaves him vulnerable and alone.

Symbolism:There are a various they of symbols used in the film such as that of 1. Statues- Kane repeatedly fails in his attempts to control the people in his life, which perhaps explains his obsession with collecting statues and the appearance of statues throughout the film, since statues can be easily manipulate. 2. Rosebud- The sled Kane loves as a child, appears at the beginning, during one of Kanes happiest moments, and at the end, being burned with the rest of Kanes possessions after Kane dies. Rosebud is the last word Kane utters, which not only emphasizes how alone Kane is but also suggests Kanes inability to relate to people on an adult level.

3. Xanadu-still unfinished- Through this director wants to prove that one can never achieve the American Dream, it is elusive. 4. Infinite reflections of Kane- Shattered Charles Foster Kane pass a series of mirrors in which his image is duplicated infinitely. This metaphorically conveys that there are infinite versions of Kane.

Narrative Technique:
Framing Narrative:The scene changes into a slow camera gliding up an eerie looking fence, some light music begins to play, giving the audience an even stronger feeling of mystery. The camera continues to dissolve into more images showing neglect of something that once was a place of great beauty. This location is Xanadu, the last resting place of Charles Foster Kane. These shots all have a sinister feel to them. The audience is eventually shown a castle, and after a moment one realizes the presence of one illuminated window. The camera goes closer as one sees the light turn off. Moments later, however, the window is once again lit and one realizes that they are now viewing this same window from inside the castle. The shot is then full of snow as we see a hand holding a snowglobe. Then, suddenly, the snowglobe drops as there is an extreme closeup of lips saying the word "Rosebud". This is the only closeup on another person for the remainder of the opening, an interesting technique used by Orson Welles. Even more interesting is the word "Rosebud". Already, something about that word leaves the audience feeling uneasy. A nurse rushes into the room and is only seen through the reflection in the broken glass of the snow globe. And just as suddenly, the film cuts to a news bulleton, full of blaring music that almost makes one forget about the haunting feeling of the previous scene. Unlike the last scenes, this news broadcast is full of quick cuts, loud music and the mood feels light. However, after having just

seen the previous scene, one has a better view of just how fake this broadcast about Kane is. Whereas the last scene was more of a private, dream-like view of Kane's final moments, this broadcast shows the audience the public side, leaving one confused over which is the true essence of Charles Foster Kane. Then, the news broadcast stops and the viewer finds themselves in a screening room full of shadowy figures. The room is dimly lit and one can already tell that these men are manipulative and hide behind words and big names. Interesting to look at is the man Thompson. Throughout the scene, you never see his face, which makes him appear to be a pushover and rather small and inadequate next to the important reporters in the room. Core Narrative:Walter Parks Thatcher is long since dead, but Thompson visits his library and is allowed to inspect the financier's memoirs in manuscript. Through Thatcher's words we see Kane as a boy playing with his sled on a snow-swept Colorado farm. Through his mother, the boy has just inherited a great fortune. Unable to settle his bill, a prospector who boarded with the Kanes left behind stock certificates that make Mrs. Kane the sole owner of one of the world's great silver mines. She then makes her son the ward of the bank that administers her estate, and Thatcher, whom the angry young Kane bashes with a sled, takes the boy east to be raised. Through a series of quick cuts, Kane is shown growing up, making life miserable for Thatcher. The mature Kane decides to take direct control of a small, struggling newspaper, which is really an insignificant portion of his holdings, and immediately begins using it to attack Thatcher and others among America's financial elite. Loyal assistant's account Bernstein, Kane's devoted assistant, now picks up the tale, relating the magnate's beginnings as a newspaper czar and his takeover of the New York Enquirer, in which he fired its editor, hired an expensive, top-notch staff, and enlisted his college friend Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten) as the drama critic. Kane is at first a crusader for the downtrodden, opening his first editorial with a "declaration of principles." He becomes a champion of the little person, hyping his circulation with juicy scandals, crime exposes. Bernstein discusses Kane's marriage to Emily Norton (Ruth Warrick), the president's niece. The marriage is depicted in several quick scenes, all set in the breakfast room. Spanning nine years, these scenes trace the couple from happy newlyweds to virtual strangers who sit in stony silence. Bernstein is pressed by reporter Thompson for the meaning of "Rosebud", but he doesn't really know. Leland doubts Kanes integrity from the early moments of their partnership. Leland is as giddy as Kane is about their newfound authority at the newspaper, but the mens ethics quickly diverge. Kane signs a noble Declaration of Principles, which Leland asks skeptically to keep as a souvenir. As Kane becomes increasingly despotic, Leland questions the unethical and immoral way in which they conduct their business. Leland also views Kanes self-delusion as ridiculous, even though Kane remains oblivious to his own hypocrisy and the harm he does. When Kanes staff celebrates the fact that Kane has stolen the entire editorial staff of their rival newspaper,

Leland, for the first time, openly questions whether the end justifies the means and whether loyalty can be bought. He feels he can become an ethical, objective reporter only if he can escape Kanes suffocating control. Just like the women in Kanes life, Leland must leave Kane to save himself. Despite his doubts and criticisms, Leland attempts to maintain his integrity without destroying his friendship with Kane, and he sustains his faith in Kane longer than any other character in the film, with the possible exception of Bernstein. When Kane builds his wife Susan an opera house in Chicago, the city where Leland now works as the drama critic for a Kane newspaper. Leland starts to write a negative review of Susans performance, but he passes out, drunk, before he can finish it. Kane arrives at the office and indignantly finishes writing the review himself to show Leland that he can be an honest man, but when Leland wakes up, Kane bluntly fires him. Leland has little reason to think any integrity or goodness lurks within Kane, but nonetheless he mails Kane the Declaration of Principles Kane signed so many years ago. The gesture is a rebuke, but it is also a way of suggesting its not too late for Kane to change. Kane tears it up, effectively slicing Leland out of his life forever. Susan Alexander Kane and Kane fall in love with each other under false pretenses, and though Susan eventually loses her illusions about the kind of man Kane is, Kane is never able to see Susan clearly. Susan and Kane first meet in the street. Susan's appearance in Kane's life is the fulcrum on which Kane's fortunes turn. Kanes life before meeting Susan is very different from his life after meeting her, and Susan effectively splits the movie into two parts: the world of Kanes rise and the world of his fall. Before Kane meets Susan, his story plays out in a world where hes ruthless, successful, and respected. After meeting Susan, his story becomes inseparable from their relationship and their life together. Because of his relationship with her, his marriage breaks up, his political aspirations shatter, and he loses the respect of society at large. Susan represents Kanes lost innocence and fall from grace. When Susan finally leaves him, the loss Kane feels mirrors the loss he felt when his mother left. He trashes Susans room and finds the snow globe, which brings back long-repressed memories of his childhood. Kane has no one now that Susan is gone, and nothing to hold onto but the past.

RASHOMON
The different tales revolve around a bandit, Tajomaru, who has attacked a couple wandering through the woods, tying the husband up and forcing himself on the wife. The husband was found dead in the forest by the woodcutter, but what actually happened between these people is inconclusive. Tajomaru, the wife, the husband (through a medium), and the woodcutter all present different and irreconcilable versions of the events in question to the authorities. The woodcutter and priest are disturbed by the absence of an objective truth, but the third man seems not to care. The three find an abandoned baby under the gate, and the third man steals some of

the items left with the child and leaves. The priest fears for the babys safety, but the woodcutter states he already has several children and offers to care for this one as well. Symbolism:There are a various they of symbols used in the film such as that of 1. The Gate - is this perhaps representative of cultural or civilsed values, perhaps of civilization itself. 2. The Rains- It represents darkness and evilness present in the world. Rain symbolizes the downpour of disturbed emotions that we witness at the gate. 3. The Stream and the Pool- In one of the film's most beautiful scenes, the wife kneels next to a stream that runs through the forest. The most obvious meaning of this seems to be of the beauty that can be found even in the heart of a moral wilderness. 4. The Sun- It represents winning of good over bad. In the end of the movie when Woodcutter takes the child, rains stops and Sun shines and Priest says that my faith remains in human soul. It shows that at the end good wins over evil.

Narrative Technique:
Framing Narrative:The film begins with heavy rains and three Japanese wanderers; a Woodcutter, a young Priest and a commoner sheltering themselves from the rains inside the ruin gate. The time is of civil war, there is devastation everywhere. People are depressed and it can be seen in these three characters behavior. The location of framing narrative is the ruin Gate. Peripheral narrative:Woodcutters narration- He says that he was going to the forest and on his way he finds a womans hat, a rope and then a dead body so he rushes to the police. The priest narration-A traveling Buddhist priest claims that he saw the samurai and the woman the same day the murder happened. (Since his report does not tell anything about the murder, and does not contradict the other reports, he is presumably telling the truth.) Another mans narration- He says how he managed to capture the bandit. His story is broken into by the bandit himself who tells the truth of his capture and tells his version of the whole incident (tragedy).

Core Narrative:The woodcutter-An unnamed Woodcutter claims he found the body of the victim (the samurai) three days previously while looking for wood in the forest. Upon discovering the body the woodcutter flees in a panic to search for the authorities. The woodcutter then says his earlier view was a lie, claiming he didn't want to get too much involved. He confesses he did in fact witness the rape and murder. He says that Tajmaru raped the samurai's wife, and then begged the weeping woman to marry him. She instead freed her husband, and then continued weeping. The samurai said that he was unwilling to die for a woman such as her, and that he would mourn the loss of his horse more than the loss of his wife. After hearing these words, Tajmaru lost interest in the samurai's wife and began as if to leave. The samurai's wife continued to weep, more forcefully now, which prompted her husband to demand that she stop crying. Tajmaru retorted that the samurai's remarks were "unmanly" of him since, according to Tajmaru, "women are weak" and can't help crying. At this, the woman was provoked into an embittered rage about both her husband's reluctance to protect his wife and Tajmaru's half-heartedness, whose passionate affection had all too soon turned into mere pity. In a fit of mad fury she spurred the men to fight for her, which she seemed to regret as soon the men actually started a pitiful fight, apparently more for the sake of keeping their face in front of each other than because of any true affection for the woman. After a pathetic struggle, Tajmaru won the duel, more by luck than through skill, and killed the samurai as he was attempting to scamper away in the bushes. At the sight of her husband's death, the woman screamed in horror and ran from Tajmaru who tried to approach her. Tajmaru, unable to follow her, took the samurai's sword and left the scene limping. The bandit-Tajmaru a notorious brigand claims that he tricked the samurai to step off the mountain trail with him and look at a cache of ancient swords he discovered. In the grove he tied the samurai to a tree, then returns to fetch the woman. He planned to rape the woman, who initially tried to defend herself. When caught, she submitted in view of her husband. She then was "seduced" by the bandit. The woman, filled with shame, then begged him to duel to the death with her husband, to save her from the guilt and shame of knowing two men. He honorably set the samurai free so they could duel. In Tajmaru's recollection they fight skillfully and fiercely, but in the end Tajmaru is the victor and the woman runs away. At the end of the story he is asked about an expensive dagger owned by the samurai's wife: he says that, in the confusion, he forgot all about it, and that it was foolish of him to leave behind such a valuable object. The samurai's wife-The samurai's wife, Masago claims that after she was raped by Tajmaru, who left her to weep, she begged her husband to forgive her; but he simply looked at her coldly. She then freed him and begged him to kill her so that she would be at peace. He continued to stare at her coldly with a look of loathing. His look of disdain rips at her soul and she begs him to kill her but to no avail, and then she faints with dagger in hand. She awakens to find her husband

dead with the dagger in his chest. She recalls attempting to kill herself but fails in all her attempts as well as trying to drown herself some time later by a nearby lake. The samurai-Through a medium the deceased samurai, Kanazawa-no-Takehiro claims that after he was captured by Tajmaru, and after the bandit raped his wife, Tajmaru asked her to travel with him. She accepted and asked Tajmaru to kill her husband so that she wouldn't feel the guilt of knowing two men. Tajmaru, shocked by this request, grabbed her, and gave the samurai a choice of letting the woman go or killing her ("At this", the dead samurai recounted, "I almost forgave the bandit."). The woman fled, and Tajmaru, after attempting to recapture her, gave up and set the samurai free. The samurai then killed himself with his own dagger. The ghost then mentions that somebody removed the dagger from his chest; upon hearing this (or more precisely, in the frame sequence after this part of the trial flashback is recounted), the woodcutter is startled, and claims that the dead man must be lying, because he was killed by a sword. Conclusion: Citizen Kane It's a difficult undertaking for someone of my generation to watch a film like CITIZEN KANE. Not because it's "too old" or "too boring", but because it has been hailed--almost universally--as the single best motion picture ever made. And while the anticipation of seeing a film with such overwhelming acclaim may be quite exhilarating, actually watching it is ultimately an intimidating and somewhat disappointing experience. This isn't to say that I thought CITIZEN KANE was a bad film; in fact, I thought everything about it was downright brilliant. From the enchanting performances right down to the meticulously planned camera movements and clever lighting tricks, there isn't a single element of CITIZEN KANE that isn't a stunning achievement in all areas of filmmaking. CITIZEN KANE's storyline is deceptively simple. Even though the plot unfolds by jumping in and out of nonlinear flashbacks, it is surprisingly easy to keep track of. The straightforwardness and relatively fast pace of the story are what make it seem intimidating. Because everything moves smoothly along without any standstill, it feels like we are being fooled-like there is something much greater that we just can't seem to grasp. As a first-time viewer, I knew from its reputation that there must be *something* that separates this movie from all the others; something buried within its simple plotline that everybody else has seen, but that I just could not seem to get a handle on. And then, during those final frames, that something was revealed, and it all began to make sense. Kane forever onwards appears to harbour a longing for the frozen memory of his lost, though most likely idealised childhood. This is suggested by his gasping of Rosebud (referring to his much loved sleigh, and essentially, his much missed childhood) at the films beginning.

The theme of loss within Citizen Kane is also shown through his loss of personal relationships, in exchange for what he is taught to perceive as success. His lonely death shows the sad turn that his life has clearly taken, however, the loss of other personal relationships are traced throughout Kane. Rashomon At the temple, the woodcutter, priest, and commoner are interrupted from their discussion of the woodcutter's account by the sound of a crying baby. They find the baby abandoned, and the commoner takes the kimono as well as a ruby that is protection for the baby in the basket. The woodcutter reproaches the commoner for stealing from the abandoned baby, but the commoner questions him about the woman's dagger; the woodcutter does not reply and thus the commoner puts two and two together and figures out the truth: that the woodcutter, too, is a thief, having stolen the dagger used in the murder of the samurai. The commoner, smiling and snickering at his own purportedly trenchant observations, claims that all men are selfish, and all men are looking out for themselves in the end. These deceptions and lies shake the priest's faith in the goodness of humanity. He is brought back to his senses when the woodcutter reaches for the baby in the priest's arms. After initially snapping at the woodcutter ("Are you trying to take all that he has left?") he relents when the woodcutter explains that he has six other children at home, and that the addition of one more (the baby) would not make life any more difficult. This simple revelation recasts the woodcutter's story and the subsequent theft of the dagger in a new light. The priest gives the baby to the woodcutter, saying that the woodcutter has given him reason to continue having hope in humanity. The film closes on the woodcutter, walking home with the baby. The rain has stopped and the clouds have opened revealing the sun in contrast to the beginning where it was downcast. Bibliography: From the given notes. Watched both the films. http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/citizen-kane-v9737 http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=citizen+kane http://www.filmsite.org/citi.html