It isn't enough to tell us what a man did. You've got to tell us who he was.

Citizen Kane. It's arguably the best movie ever made according to critics and film festivals. It incorporated ground breaking cinematography, soundtrack, and storytelling. More importantly, I watched it last night, giving it more legitimacy than the reviews of Siskel, Ebert, and Jon Lovitz combined (remember he had a show? no? me neither). 

I was actually really moved by the overall message of the movie-that is, success is futile. Ok, so that's probably not what the movie's message really is, but it's along those lines. As I was watching the movie, I realized just how nerdy I'm becoming (and how much I'm craving some sort of creative medium) because I started taking notes of my favorite quotations as they were said. Before you decide to judge me, and cut off all communication with me, don't. 

I especially liked the character Jed Leland, one of Kane's closest colleagues. From the beginning of the film, Leland sort of acts as a moral critic of Kane, and tries to keep Kane in check. Eventually, because of disagreements, Leland tries to distance himself form Kane's control. We see that Kane destroyed everyone that ever got close to him; his wife, his lover, his friends, his colleagues...everyone eventually left him to try to save themselves, but were ultimately left broken or damaged. Leland said, "That's all he ever wanted out of life, was love. That's the tragedy of Charles Foster Kane, you see, he just didn't have any to give." 

Why did Kane have such a destructive influence on himself, and those around him? In the movie, he himself claims, "if I hadn't been very rich, I might have been a really great man." Kane despises even himself, and dies a lonely old man, clinging to the memory of a lost childhood. What missing pieces are there in my own life? What have I given up to gain what little I have? I think it's easy to justify changing your value system, and I also think you really ought to alter it often. It shouldn't remain the same your entire life, it should move forward, not backward, upward, not forward, and always twirling, twirling toward freedom.

The Simpsons actually did an interesting parody of the film with Mr. Burns and his lost teddy, Bobo. In this version, Burns' missing 'jigsaw piece' (see the movie, it's really pretty good) is actually returned to him, and he is content. The movie shows that the sled was stashed among Kane's mountain of possessions, meaning he had somehow obtained the left item, but not the significance it carried.