Citizen Kane

Name: Citizen Kane
Director: Orson Welles
Genre: Mystery, Drama
Released: 1941
Duration: 1 h 59 min
Rating: 7.98

Some called him a hero...others called him a heel.

1941·Directed by Orson Welles·4.2·1h 59m

Letterboxd Trailer Where to Watch

Mystery Drama United States of America

Newspaper magnate, Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.

Recommended by 12 People

“It means everything to me.”

Steven Spielberg

Director, Producer, Writer

“It would take a contrarian filmgoer indeed to deny Orson Welles' Citizen Kane a vote, as it really does merit all those accolades.”

Woody Allen

Actor, Comedian, Director, Musician, Writer

“Once you see Citizen Kane, either you want to be a movie director, or you just want to give up, one of the two. He got it right. He did everything right. Then when you think he was only, what, 25 years old at that time? Extraordinary.”

Terry Gilliam

Actor, Animator, Director, Producer, Writer

“Some of the greatest filmmaking of all time and character work and acting... all-time performance, all-time filmmaking.”

Nicholas Hoult

Actor

“I don't know how [Welles] did it at 24 years old. It does not age. It's as exciting as it ever was. The performances are mind-blowing.”

Nicolas Cage

Actor

“It's absolutely brilliant. When you think about where it was made and when it was made in film history, he really set in motion a lot of camera movements, shots, and composition that still are at play today — and people don't even realize it.”