Analysis Of A Rosebud

“Maybe rosebud was something he couldn't get, or something he lost” (Citizen Kane). The first motif; a rosebud, a representation of security, hope and the innocence of childhood. The rose presented within the film serves as a symbolic code towards the protagonist ‘Kanes’ value, which contextually we see he looses throughout life. Through close ups and low angle shots, the emblem of a rosebud is depicted. The movie begins with a frame of Kanes home in Xanadu, where Kanes lips mutter rosebud and he lets go of the snow globe and dies. Only till the end does the movie reveal the significance of rosebud, as it was present on Kanes sled, the one we see in a flashback of his childhood. In the entire movie close up shots are very rare; therefore
Kanes seek towards power contextually shows as he attempts to run for president, although due to his published “love affair” his campaign fails and he no longer is a candidate for presidency. After all this failure we see at 1:11:22 where Kane is speaking to his closest friend Bernstein, of where the shot is done in a low camera angle, giving an interesting viewpoint. This viewpoint has particular effect to it, as a figure closer becomes an unrealistic large, where ones farther away become unrealistically small. In this scene we see Kane as a very large figure and in contrast Mr. Bernstein much smaller, mimicking Kanes hunger to be ‘bigger’ and more ‘powerful’ to
“Money and power does not equal happiness”, materialism is another aspect of Kanes life that is prominent. The very first few shots of the scene use the dissolve effect, done through the editing process at the very beginning of the film, when we see all of Kanes possessions (Xanadu). On his home there is a very large ‘K’ which ultimately leads to Kane identifying himself with in-animate objects.

Now that this idea of materialism has been introduced; Kane lost everything at the end, everyone he knew he had lost, and all he had been left with was his statues. When the investigator is going around attempting to find out who Kane was, he visits each individual, where the lighting portrays each individual under a spotlight, like presented at a showcase or museum, which highly objectifies the subject. An example is when the Journalist goes to see Kanes second wife Susan Alexander at (15:21). Throughout the whole scene Susan is under bright light, and you barely see the journalists face, almost as if she is present as a staue in a wax museum. The lighting then creates shadow as the journalist moves towards her as if you were to move across a still object, your shadow presents itself over it as you examine. This use of lighting is used to objectify each one of Kanes closest friends, which connects to Kane’s materialistic being dying with nothing except