10 Classic Films That Actually Live Up To Their Legendary Status
1. Citizen Kane
This is the film that all other films want to be. Orson Welles' vision, his masterpiece, and in some ways his curse.
Citizen Kane isn't great because everybody says it is, it's great because the underlying message of capitalist power over countries and unchecked egos can lead to disaster. There isn't a film from the same era that feels more influential to modern culture than Kane, the way in which it depicts its subject Charles Foster Kane is not one of good or evil, but human and flawed.
His death poses the question, the most famous question in cinema history, 'What is Rosebud'? From there we see the life of Kane play out in the perspective of those who knew him best.
The film may be a look at the life of media magnate Charles Forster Kane, but the heart of the film is a message about power and irresponsibility. A life of utter regret and disappointment without knowing why it ended up there when it is so obvious to everybody else.
The camera angles and composition used by Welles and Gregg Toland were the building blocks of all cinematography to come. The tale by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles was as engaging and epic as any found in the literary world, they didn't know it at the time but they also invented the concept of modern non-linear storytelling.
Kane is to cinema what The White House is to America, a shining focal point that stands as a monument to its craft.