At the age of just 25, Orson Welles made what is still inarguably the greatest feature debut in history. Equal parts innovative and influential, the themes of Citizen Kane still carry many modern parallels, a remarkable achievement for a movie that is fast approaching its 65th anniversary. Partly based on the life of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, Welles eschewed the normal cinematic storytelling techniques in favor of a groundbreaking non-linear narrative, using flashback and multiple narrators that serve to enhance Charles Foster Kane's ambiguity. These innovations also extend to the incorporation of multiple genres into a single narrative; elements of film noir, biopic, parody and detective story are all used to turn a potentially risky formula into a brilliantly realized piece of cinema. Welles claimed that 'sheer ignorance' led him to create a movie so different from established conventions, but he was likely selling himself short. Technically flawless, the use of deep focus, low angles and stunning camerawork gave Citizen Kane the aesthetic showmanship to match the big themes about the power of the media and the myth of the American Dream.
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