Citizen Kane is a wonderful movie to behold, and take in. Yes it is an older film, however I believe the theme and focus of the film still can be related to everyone. I find the aspect of searching the human soul for the inner most thoughts of an individual, his final thought. The reason the film is so effective is because they way the narrative progresses. Slowly we discover more and more of Mr. Kane, and the reason that this movie is so great is because it accomplishes this not only with dialoque but with screen action and shot set-up. A great example is the breakfast montage where Kane and his wife slowly and literally grow apart and finally his wife is reading the paper he is fighting against. Another example is the literal space and distance we see between Kane and his wife doing puzzles. Also the idea of this movie can be seen everywhere in our society today. One of the funniest things I found was in the Sims to get infinite money, and wealth you have to type in Rosebud, or the secret of life. This obviously is the exact opposite of the film however the use just goes to show it popularity and impact.
The cinematography in this film is almost flawless. Like Rob said it has great use of deep focus, however this combined with the lighting and shot set up, gives this overall feeling of grandness and massive success. Slowly however Kane becomes more and more alone and the shots and lighting I believe effect this. One of my favorite shots is when Kane see;s himself in the hall of mirrors. This to me suggest, the end, he is all alone all the way to the horizon and end.
In terms of Semiotics the film has great use of it. Many signs and ideas to suck up and take in. Overall the narrative tends to distract me from pulling out specific signs, but after the viewing we have all these signs that add up to the overall feel of the film
Another of my favorite things is how we never see the reporters face, he is just the catalyst but it is not his story. Very clever and fun to watch.
