Citizen Kane: An Analysis of Narrative Techniques and Storytelling

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of the film Citizen Kane, examining its narrative techniques, plot structure, and character development. The essay explores the use of narrative cause and effect, the relationship between story and plot, and the significance of the film's beginning and ending. It delves into the Thompson four art structures, including the set-up, complicating action, development, and climax, demonstrating how these elements contribute to the film's overall impact. The analysis highlights the importance of the opening and closing sequences in shaping the viewer's experience and understanding of the story. Furthermore, the essay discusses the film's unique narrative structure, which employs flashbacks and multiple narrators to provide a multifaceted perspective on the central character, Charles Foster Kane. The essay concludes by emphasizing the film's enduring legacy and its masterful use of storytelling techniques to create a lasting impression on the audience. The essay also includes references to relevant academic sources and an appendix summarizing the film's narrative techniques.

CITIZEN KANE

Table of Contents
CITIZEN KANE..............................................................................................................................1
Narrative cause and effect......................................................................................................1
Relationship between story and plot.......................................................................................2
The beginning and ending of the film....................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5
APPENDIX......................................................................................................................................6

CITIZEN KANE
A film is prepared in such a way that it keeps the viewer engaged in the plots of the story
from the first scene itself. One of such film is Citizen Kane which is an American mystery drama
film released in 1941 who got nominated in 9 categories in Academy awards and won various
other awards (Bordwell, 2010). The film revolved around the central character Charles Kane
who uttered 'Rosebud' in his last breath. It is a mysterious film with combination of drama in it.
The music and narrative structure of the film was preaised by many after its release.
Narrative cause and effect
Narrative cause and effect refers to events occurring in a chain having a result to every
action. Without this relationship the story becomes monotonous and no one shows interest in
watching or reading them (Kerr, 2010). Citizen Kane is an American mystery drama which is
considered as greatest film of all the time. Following are the main characters of the film:
 Charles Foster Kane – The lead character
 Jededlah Leland – College friend of Kane and first reporter of his newspaper
 Susan Alexander Kane – Kane's mistress and his second wife
 Mary Kane – Kane's mother
 Mr. Bernstein – Kane's friend and employee
 Walter Thatcher – Banker who larter became Kane's legal guardian
 Emily Monroe Norton Kane – Kane's first wife
 Jim Kane – Kane's father
 Jerry Thompson – The reporter in charge to find the meaning of Kane's last word
The characters of the film carry a particular trait which may be in the form of attitudes,
habits, psychological drives, tastes. The story of the film can be in chronological or non
chronological order. Citizen Kane do not flow in chronological order as the movie start with
death of the lead character, Kane. From the first scene itself it started developing the interest in
the minds of people and creating a curiosity that what was the reason of his death. The story
flows backwards discussing the life of Kane. The events which connect to the previous one
provoke suspense in the audience which helps them to watch the movie till the end. Another
important factor is time which includes duration and frequency of the events (Kersten, 2014). It
can be stretched, compressed and run back and forth as well. The viewer of the film requires
1

moment to moment processing which builds a story. Further, body, appearance, props also plays
an important role in guiding the audience towards the story. The story can be romantic, thriller or
sci-fi, it is important that it attracts viewer's attention.
In citizen Kane, the last word uttered by Kane was 'Rosebud'. It created suspense that
what was the reason that he uttered that word in the last breathe. The suspense was revealed in
the end keeping the audience engaged for the whole film.
Relationship between story and plot
The writer when writes the story considers four major points. These are the Thompson
four art structures, which are discussed as follows:
 The set-up: It is the beginning of the film. The writer makes the beginning of the film
catchy and suspensive. The beginning may be introductory which explains the basic set-
up of the first scene or may be narrative which reveals what has already happened in the
past. In case of Citizen Kane, it begins with the death of the lead character of the film,
Kane. The set-up of the film was engaging and suspicious leading the audience in
dilemma that why it began with this scene (Lange, 2011).
 The complicating action: It is the time when the story takes some new direction which
may be turning the story towards something undetectable in dramatic manner. It may
build a whole new story which the audience may not be expecting. After the death of
Kane, Thompson was trying to find the meaning of Kane's last word that started knowing
about his personal life. The story took a turn when he came to know that Kane's
childhood was in poverty.
 The development: it is the main phase of the story where the film may get boring or
interesting. By this time, the writer has disclosed all the major questions, problems and
significance of the story. However, the ending is still far from this point. Citizen Kane's
development phase was when Thompson was interviewing all the people who were
directly connected to Kane' life (Mateer, 2017). The trump cards get opening when he
came to know about his multiple relationships and his manipulating behaviour at his
work. Also, when his mother revealed that he was taken to other place by the banker for
better education. The main plot was still not revealed but it was going towards solving the
mystery
2

 Climax: It is the final resolution of the film where the last plot of the story is played and
the film discloses the final ending or leaves the end open for the audience. In the open
ends, audience are free to perceive whatever they want and understood from the film.
These types of endings last longer in the minds of people and keep the minds of the
people engaged for a longer period (Nikolic, 2016). In the end of Citizen Kane,
Thompdon was not able to resolve the mystery of the word 'Rosebud 'which was uttered
by Kane in his last breath even after going so deep in his life. However, the film ended on
the scene where 8 year old Kane was playing on sled on which the name 'Rosebud' was
painted. The climax is connected to the time when he was sent by his mother to Colorado
for higher studies.
The audience try to guess the climax in the beginning of the film however, they don't like
if their assumption get right in the end. The writer picks the climax plot in such a way that it
creates a long lasting impact on the minds of people. It is the time when the viewer decide
whether he liked the story or not. The plotting of the characters and scenes is chosen in such a
way that it drives to the ultimate story. Plot and story are interrelated. Perfect plotting leads to a
good story. Moreover, every plot is a way which makes the whole story of the film interesting
and watch-able. Also, one sequence is related to the other sequence; joining the dots leads to a
full fledged story. It also involves change in state, for instance, it the film starts with state A, it
should reach to state B after some scenes. Involvement of characters having different perspective
and behaviour makes people to get a ride of emotion in 2-3 hours.
The beginning and ending of the film
The beginning and ending of the film plays an important role because opening develops
the interest of the viewer and at that point of time he decides that whether he is going to watch
the film further or not. The closing or the climax decides that whether he liked the film and
satisfied with the climax or not. The writer writes these two plots very carefully ad make the first
one as mysterious as possible in order to gain the attention of the audience (Plate, 2016).
Opening gives an overview that what is going to come. It sets the expectations of the
viewer that how the film is going to be. The opening is generally the introduction of the
characters and their behaviour. The first quarter is generally the set-up where the story gets build
and people gets to know that what is actually the film is all about. Some films also begin with
middle action or opposite to the chronological order.
3

Citizen Kane started with the death of the central character. It then shows that man who
whispered the word 'Rosebud' which was uttered by Kane. The news on the March announced its
death and news reel gave lengthy obituary to him. The suspense plot started when Thompson
started searching for the reason why Kane whispered 'Rosebud' in his last breath
In the end, the suspense was revealed to the audience which was undetectable. People
liked this film to its perfect beginning and ending (Thornley, 2014).
Based on the above essay, it can be inferred that there is a certain process of writing a
story. It should be effectively written with perfect plotting of every scene. Thompson have given
four art structure model which includes, the set up, complicating action, development and
climax. Citizen Kane is a famous film of 1941 whose interpretation shows that it was the perfect
combination of story, character, suspense and climax. The writer picked the climax plot in such a
way that it created a long lasting impact on the minds of people.
4

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bordwell, D., 2010. The Part-Time Cognitivist: A View from Film Studies. Projections. 4(2).
pp.1-18.
Kerr, P., 2010. Babel's network narrative: packaging a globalized art cinema. Transnational
Cinemas. 1(1). pp.37-51.
Kersten, A., 2014. National cultural repertoires of evaluation in a global age: Film discourse in
France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. European
Sociological Review. 30(6). pp.717-727.
Lange, P. G., 2011. Video-mediated nostalgia and the aesthetics of technical competencies.
Visual Communication. 10(1). pp.25-44.
Mateer, J., 2017. Directing for Cinematic Virtual Reality: how the traditional film director’s craft
applies to immersive environments and notions of presence. Journal of Media Practice.
18(1). pp.14-25.
Nikolic, V., 2016. Independent Filmmaking and Digital Convergence: Transmedia and Beyond.
Taylor & Francis.
Plate, S. ed., 2016. Representing religion in world cinema: filmmaking, mythmaking, culture
making. Springer.
Thornley, D., 2014. Introduction—Cinematic Cross-Cultural Collaboration: Filming on an
Uneven Field. In Cinema, Cross-Cultural Collaboration, and Criticism: Filming on an
Uneven Field. Palgrave Macmillan UK. (pp. 1-22).
5

APPENDIX
The narrative technique used in Citizen Kane is unique where the events have not
occurred in chronological order. However, the story have been presented in flashback of
different times of Kane's life. It shares his relationship with his mother, wives, friends etc. The
events are overlapping and do not appear in a perfect order. It gives a complete glimpse of
Kane's life. There are several narrators I the film and not just one and people may have different
perspective of his character based upon their thinking.
The interesting part of the film was how it flowed from the beginning to middle to its
climax and story have been pieced together. The audience here is eager to know the clue through
which they can detect the climax of the story. However, the ending was quite undetectable.
Opening Sequence: Citizen Kane started with the scene with the death scene of Kane where
various news channels are giving obituary to him as he was a famous politician. The dark
entrance of his house reflects the dark life of Kane having secrets inn it.
Closing scene: It reveals the secret of Kane that why he uttered that word 'Rosebud”. It was
because he was remembering his childhood memories and the time he spent with his mother. He
was remembering his lost childhood because he was sent for higher studies to another place.
6