A Comparison Of Genre Conventions Of Motherless Brooklyn And Citizen Kane

584 Words2 Pages

Both Motherless Brooklyn and Citizen Kane rely on genre conventions to fulfill a reader’s expectation of the film or novel. The particular genre of this novel and film is mystery and detective fiction. Motherless Brooklyn is stated to have a traditionally structured narrative, while Citizen Kane has a non-linear narrative structure. In every camera movement of Citizen Kane, there is a significant hidden message with different meanings. This film also contains many different genres than just mystery and detective fiction.
Some common genre conventions used in mystery and detective fiction are having someone mentioned early in the novel be the criminal. Next, the detective in the story cannot be the one to commit the crime. Then they must not …show more content…

Instead of having an investigator or detective, you have an investigative reporter trying to figure out the meaning of Kane’s last dying words, “Rosebud”. This investigative reporter, also known as Thompson, goes to several different people who have had some kind of relationship with Kane, trying to find out if they know whom or what Rosebud actually is. This is a type of genre convention known as “retracing the steps”. Thompson did not know Kane personally. Also, unlike a normal detective film, you do not directly see Thompson’s face. The director focused mainly on the characters he was interviewing. Another thing that is different that most detective film’s is that there is not any violence or suspense. Thompson described Rosebud as, “a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, a missing piece.” In the end, Thompson gave up on finding the meaning behind the word, which is not like a usual mystery or detective fiction film or novel. He states, “I don’t think it explains anything. I don’t think any word explains a man’s life. He was a man who got everything and then again lost everything, Rosebud must have been something he lost or something he wanted but never got.” Even though the investigative reporter did not figure out the meaning behind Rosebud, it is still identified very ironically to the audience. Rosebud was a symbol of two things: the loss of Kane’s childhood and even the substitution of his loss with his

Show More
Related

  • Charles Foster Kane: A Scene Analysis Of The Film

    302 Words  | 1 Pages

    The first scene in the film is the scene of Charles Foster Kane’s death. It begins by showing a sign that reads “No trespassing” which shows the isolation of Kane. The chain-link fence keeps unwanted people as well as possible friendships from approaching. The scene then continues with exterior shots of his mansion, Xanadu. Some of the various locations other than the massive castle itself sitting on a hill are an empty dock, an abandoned golf course, and a closed drawbridge. These deserted locations foreshadow a lack of visitors and the loss of friends. We see that only one light is on in the house and when shown inside there’s the hand of Kane holding a snow globe containing a small house. It cuts to his mouth which is partially covered by

    Read More

  • Citizen Kane

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    The film introduces to us in the beginning a single word, ‘Rosebud.' The audience having just tuned into the movie has no clue what the word means. In the opening music score there are many parallels that can be seen. This includes images on top of images, images digressing with other images, and images that clash with other images. Throughout the film you have these parallels not only with shots, but with people and real life figures. Private lives are not private at all. If you are a substantial figure in the world then people have clear access to you and your life. This goes along with the life of Kane. From his childhood he did great things and his life was publicized by his guardian. It is very important in the scheme of things because after Kane's second wife divorced him he became a recluse and people had that curiosity about what he was doing in Xanadu.

    Read More

  • Paint It Black: The Evolution of Film Noir

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    TELOTTE, J. P. (1989). Voices in the dark: the narrative patterns of film noir. Urbana, University of Illinois Press.

    Read More

  • Citizen Kane

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    Orson Welles’ cinematic classic, Citizen Kane, is a film that centers on a group of reporter’s investigation into the meaning of Charles Foster Kane’s last word, “Rosebud.” Through their investigation of his last words, the team of reporters, is presented with an almost, but not quite, complete picture of “Citizen” Kane’s life. By assuming that the man’s last word was as grandiose as his life, the reporters miss out on the bigger, more holistic picture, which is Charles Foster Kane’s life. The reporters’ emphasis of attention on what turns out to be a small and trivial, although they never find that out, aspect of Kane’s life, make Citizen Kane a perfect example of the pitfalls of over-interpretation.

    Read More

  • Charles Foster Kane's Last Word 'Rosebud'

    481 Words  | 1 Pages

    The 1941 film Citizen Kane revolves around a group of reporters trying to decipher newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane’s dying last word “Rosebud.” The film starts out with a long panning shot of a huge mansion and then a quick shot of Kane in his Xanadu mansion on his deathbed with him saying the word “Rosebud” before dropping a snow globe to the ground and then dying. Then the film goes back in forth between the upbringing of Kane’s life and the news reporters talking with everyone close to Kane to try and figure out what “Rosebud” meant to him. With that being said, the word legacy comes to mind as one of the major themes in this film with the story focusing on the rise and fall of Charles Foster Kane.

    Read More

  • Alfred Hitchcock´s America Analysis

    1441 Words  | 3 Pages

    Alfred Hitchcock’s America is a thorough analysis and clarification of Hitchcock’s depiction, in his films, o...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Citizen Kane

    1688 Words  | 4 Pages

    The camerawork creates a specific shot where a young Charles Kane can be seen from this small window, all while Mrs. Kane is negotiating with Mr. Thatcher and ultimately signing off to send her only son to Chicago in order to live a life that provides him with more opportunities. Appearing only in this small space, it can interpreted that Kane is being boxed into the fate his mother is deciding for him, almost as if he were a package being shipped off somewhere, rather than a human being with thoughts and feelings towards situations. This same idea can be identified yet again, years later once Kane grows into his wealth and begins building up the Inquirer to become a successful newspaper. Kane’s individualism clearly contributes to his victory of doing this, seeing as though he rejected any guidance from his guardian Mr. Thatcher and went off on his own tangent, putting his wealth towards something that would satisfy only himself. While celebrating this success during the party scene, a reflection of Kane singing and dancing with the performers is displayed in the window right between Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Leland while Jedediah declares his concern that this recent success is going to go right to Mr. Kane’s head and the industry will end up changing him for the worse. This scene makes it clear to the audience that Kane’s isolation

    Read More

  • Shadows In Citizen Kane Symbolism

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the film, the question that lingers is who or what is Rosebud, and what does it mean in the life of Charles Foster Kane. The word itself proves Welles’ message that it is nearly impossible to recognize and identify with the meaning in a man’s life. Thompson even says “I don't think any word can explain a man's life” as he searches for the meaning of Kane’s life. However, to Charles, the word Rosebud means everything. Rosebud represents the only thing that Charles ever truly wanted. To him, Rosebud is the loving childhood that he once had that was replaced by a sad, business-like lifestyle. This resulted in not only in a loss of Charlie’s childhood, but it also caused him to loss his ability to love or be loved ever again, which was his only true desire. To Charlie, Rosebud was the explanation for his miserable life that he keeps hidden in secrecy. The physical “Rosebud” is simply a sled from Kane’s past, but the symbolic significance of the word captured a large part of the life of Charles Foster Kane. Thompson spends the entire film searching for the meaning of this word, and his failure proves that one person cannot successfully interpret the life of another. To Thompson, Rosebud is just an unfortunate missing piece of a puzzle that prevented him from finding out the true Charles Foster Kane. In reality, it represents Kane’s private, isolated

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Citizen Kane (1941) And The Hudsucker Proxy

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    Citizen Kane retells the life of Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) in a series of flashback moments. Jerry Thompson, a reporter, goes on a mission to try and understand Kane’s last word, “rosebud.” Thompson does this by visiting Kane’s old friends and family members. During the interviews, the audience is taken back

    Read More

  • The Appeal of the Mystery Genre

    1848 Words  | 4 Pages

    By looking at 19th century artifacts, I have learned that the detective is the central character within the mystery genre, without them the story could not be told. Without the detective the blanks would not be filled and the audience would never find resolution.

    Read More

  • Citizen Kane Worksheet

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the movie Citizen Kane, there are so many important facts to remember such as, when Charles Kane was eight years old, his own mother signed custody of him over to a banker named, Walter Thatcher. Because his mother signed custody over, Kane did not have a normal childhood and he built up a sense of animosity towards Mr. Thatcher and as a result everything Charles did was an attempt to antagonize Mr. Thatcher. At a young age Charles Became extremely wealthy; when he was twenty-five years old he was set to inherit a fortune; none the less, he only wanted the struggling New York Daily Inquirer because he thought it would be fun to run a newspaper. Charles never truly cared for his wealth and in one scene said that the purpose of money is

    Read More

  • Parallelism In Citizen Kane

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning, Thatcher believes that obtaining the newspaper company ‘The Inquirer’ is seemingly useless however Kane believes that this newspaper company can be used to “look after the underprivileged”. Emphasising the purpose and the ideals of Kane, however, this belief doesn’t last. As his paper grows in stature these morals begin to degrade. He starts to lie in the newspaper, which is shown in a line that was adopted from Hearst “you provide the prose poems, I’ll provide the war”. This parallelism provides the start of yellow journalism where the news is supposed to shock and therefore sell the paper even if the story is false. The start of the degradation of morals is shown by the chiaroscuro lighting as Kane signs the “Declaration of Principles”. As he signs this he is shown to move from the light into the shadows, foreshadowing Kane 's descent into corruption due to the hunger for power. This is coupled with the camera shooting Kane from a low angle symbolising Kane 's escalation in power which is shown to be the cause of the fall into corruption. The corruption of Kane is also shown in his relationship with Emily and the deterioration of their relationship. This is conveyed mainly through the montage scene which depicts Kane and Emily being close in proxemics implying initially the bond that they share however as time

    Read More

  • Sherlock Holmes Character Traits

    694 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of all of the genres of fiction, the most recognizable one is the mystery genre. Due to its popularity it has been changed and its conventions critiqued. The detective fiction is a subgenre that stared in the mid-nineteenth century. One of the most famous heroes of detective fiction that came out of that era was Sherlock Holmes. Each of Holmes story lines centered on a “whodunit” theme which allowed the reader in the process of finding out who committed the crime. Throughout the story, the reader is given clues to help eliminate individuals as suspects. The “whodunit” theme was most popular between 1920-1950 which is considered the (Golden Age) of detective fiction.

    Read More

  • Cinematography and the Film Citizen Kane (1941)

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    Also, Welles furthers the image of how demanding Kane is of Susan and many others. Mr. Welles conveys the message that Kane has suffered a hard life, and will continue until death. Welles conveys many stylistic features as well as fundamentals of cinematography through use of light and darkness, staging and proxemics, personal theme development and materialism within the film, Citizen Kane. Welles prominently portrays his figures with a specific amount of light or darkness, stunningly affecting whole scenes stylistically. The scene at Xanadu establishes Mr. Kane as an overbearing, controlling character.

    Read More

  • Cinematic Techniques In The Film 'Rosebud'

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    Where conflicts are resolved and mysteries are solved. However, the ending of Citizen Kane does not offer concrete closure to the story being told. Welles weaves a maze-like story, where the audience becomes a detective and tries to solve the mystery of Rosebud, with Thompson. When the story comes to the end, Rosebud is revealed only to the audience but with no real explanation as to why this word has been driving the story. Conversely, Rosebud is never exposed to Thompson, so it leaves the story of Citizen Kane quite open-ended. Audiences in the 1940’s found this ending leaving them with too much uncertainty. Welles artistic design of Citizen Kane was ahead of its time. His decision to end the film with no clarification of the meaning of Rosebud was deliberate. Welles dares the spectators to question if Rosebud holds the same importance to the story, as they believed it did throughout the film. “Rosebud serves a very important motivating function in the film. It creates Thompson’s goal and thus focuses our attention on his delving into the lives of Kane and his associates. Citizen Kane becomes a mystery story; but instead of investigating a crime, the reporter investigates character. So the Rosebud clues provide the basic motivation necessary for the plot to progress.” Instead of giving audiences an exact answer to the ending, Welles invites spectators to come to their own

    Read More

More about A Comparison Of Genre Conventions Of Motherless Brooklyn And Citizen Kane

Open Document