Citizen Kane: Story Review

Orson Welles's dramatic mystery, Citizen Kane, is a one of a kind of its time. Orsen Welles was the producer, writer, director, and the actor (he played Mr. Kane). Since he was involved for all these roles, the movie is his vision. The film opens with the ending of the story, with the death of Mr. Kane uttering one word... "Rosebud". Jerry Thompson a reporter with News on the March is tasked with finding out all he can about “Rosebud.” His mission it to set out to talk to those close to Mr. Kane to search for the mystery. The film is narrated my Jerry Thompson throughout the common use of flashbacks that link us to the pre-death of Mr. Kane in order to give the audience more information about the story. One interesting technique Orsen Welles used with the flashbacks was to give a look into other character perceptions, which gives more detail to the story. We see flashbacks through Walter Thatcher (Kane’s legal guardian), Mr. Bernstein (Kane’s friend/employee), Jedediah Leland (Kane’s best friend/reporter), Susan Alexander Kane (Kane’s mistress and second wife), and Raymond (Kane’s butler). The interviews Thompson has and information he gathers proves useless, as he still was unable to find out more about Mr. Kane or "Rosebud". 

Citizen Kane: Writing Critique

Citizen Kane is an original screenplay written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orsen Welles, with additional input from John Houseman, Roger Q. Denny and Mollie Kent. This is known as Orsen's first film, and what a success it was! After the first screenplay was written by Herman J. Mankiewicz, Orsen Welles added his touches to it and did some revisions. These placed him on the map for his innovative creativity. The film began with the end of the movie and gave the audience flashbacks which allowed us to figure out and piece together what Mr. Kane meant by his symbolic dying word, "Rosebud". Starting with the end was one of many firsts for Orsen Welles, as it was something that has not been done until its time. Mr. Kane is anything but sharp with his true feelings which helps to add a sense of mystery in Citizen Kane. Other characters are more clear and open when it comes to their speech.

Shutter Island: Speech

One thing to notice in this film, which I mentioned earlier, is how the characters speak. Most characters speak a standard, “Bostonian” style, while the doctor is German, so has a German accent. The use of dialogue from the doctors appears “well educated” and “high class” compared to the two US Marshalls. Their dialogue is slightly “belittling” to the Marshalls. Whereas the Marshalls speak with authority, and speak firm. 

Shutter Island: Sound

Sound is something that no matter what has a large role in the success of a thriller film. In Shutter Island, the sound was generated by using an orchestra with both pre-recorded features and film-specific features. The sound department did a great job to keep the quality of the sound without much distortion, this goes for effects and music. For clear reasons they chose to keep the rain and storm sounds loud and clear, allowing the audience to be immersed in the sound. This loud style is very popular throughout the film. In addition, as most thrillers tend to do which this film does, is to ascend the volume of the sounds or descend the volume of the sound, depending on if the director wants to get people ready for something, or to ease them out. Thankfully, live music was used in this film versus digitally created sounds; this fits the era of the film as well.

Shutter Island: Editing

I mentioned earlier about the use of “jump cuts” that Martin Scorsese used numerous times for creating tension, and to highlight action. Cuts are very important in this film theme. As many consider this film to be a psychological thriller because it plays on your mind. The eerie landscape and location of the island; the looming lighthouse in the rough water; the jagged cliffs; the scary inmates. They all play a toll when displayed to the audience properly for the right amount of time. Cutting allows the director to create a quick “flash” to an object like when Teddy Daniels is reading Rachel Solando’s journal and the word “RUN” is clear for the audience, yet it cuts in and cuts out. These cuts where used to stimulate suspense for the audience and to keep them on their toes, like many thrillers. Those creepy movies that create a hair standing effect, yea they use these techniques as well. For emotional scenes, it cuts closer to their face and fades out. The cuts are not very noticeable to a point where it ruins the audience’s experience, as they flow and fit into the film

Shutter Island: Movement

Camera movement in Shutter Island is very constant. Martin Scorsese tends to follow a similar pattern from what is seen in his previous films. For very dramatic scenes there is minimal camera movement, as thee camera is in focus on the subject at hand. And the opposite for action scenes. He pulls the camera out further and moves along with the actors. The beginning of the film has our two US Marshalls walking with a prison guard to their side walking towards the camera as the camera moves at an equal pace. This scene is not so much an action movement but it is meant to show the landscape and the building they are entering. This is quite a common occurrence for similar scenes of the film. Our actors themselves move in a realistic manner. They walk normal pacing and run like your local mall cop (not so much a Paul Blart). These movements the camera is moving equal and glides very smoothly to prevent an interruption from our story/scene. Thankfully Martin Scorsese does not use silly animations or freeze frames. Those mechanical distortions would diminish the quality of this film for the audience. Yet, he creatively adds slow motion. It is a very minor addition nevertheless… The scene must memorable with slow motion is where Teddy is having a dream about his wife. He is clutching onto hear while she holds his arms and he is weeping. While his wife beings to become ash and dissolve in his arms, Martin Scorsese slows down the scene just enough to play out the emotional drama a tad longer. These movements really help the audience in reading the context of a scene. They encourage us if a scene is serious or important.

Shutter Island: Cinematography

The cinematography found throughout this film relate to real world in many iconic ways. The shot of the island and the shot of the prison resemble Alcatraz Island, which is very iconic and historic. The photography used produces an eerie theme. The camera man primarily keeps his target center frame. The scenes where suspense or thrill is required, we notice the camera puts the shot off to the side, pushing outside the rule of thirds. This technique works to make the audience uneasy as they are not sure if something will pop out and catch them off guard because your eyes are moved out of the center (the moments that many, including myself, cover their eyes). As for centering, it is a technique that the director uses to keep an object in the complete frame and draw importance. It was common for the action and movement scenes in Shutter Island to be centered.

Shutter Island: Mise en Scene

Above, Teddy Daniels is our man in a white jumpsuit, and the most dominant figure to first draw our eyes. The main reason for the easy visibility is due to the high contrast between the white, and the dark background. This particular scene is a long shot from far back to get a lot of the background in and using an angle to look down upon the actor. The most dominating color is blue which we see in the water and amplified to the rocks. This scene appears to be a clean shot without the use of a filter. Next to the dominant blue, the lighthouse is a great second eye-catcher. With the placement of Teddy Daniels in white and the lighthouse over the water, the rue-of-thirds is implemented. This also allows an easy open and loose framing, as the placement of all these objects suggests is continues out the frame. The characters are given plenty of room to walk around, and in this scene, there is some distance to cover to get over to the lighthouse which is far ahead of Teddy which we can tell by its depth. Teddy is facing to the right with his back towards the camera, and since he is the sole character, he doesn’t have to worry about bumping into others.

Shutter Island: Dramatization

The way Dennis Lehane wrote Shutter Island, to the screenplay adaptation by Laeta Kalogridis, the story is very visual oriented. In order for this story to be recreated for theatrical, there would be a lot of key information lost. It would not be an easy task for the staging team for creating different scenes. Just the scene of the cliff where Teddy is attempting to scale down and the camera is able to be at the top of the cliff looking down on his face so the audience can see the fear clearly expressed. This is not something a theater can recreate or something you would find at the Globe Theater. It would be difficult to say the least. The director chose that camera angle for a good reason; to show Teddy’s fear and to show the height and shape of the cliff and its dangers below. For the film in particular, numerous sets were created. I would assume they had to put in a lot of work for the asylum’s jail. The whole building was built in small scale by hand. The lighthouse scene where Teddy enters the base to view the vast amount of stairs, was actually only a portion of the stairs with a green screen on the top in order to reproduce the stairs spiraling up. The cliff when Teddy and Chuck are scouting the island, was actually about 6 feet tall next to a parking area (or concrete pad), where blue screen was laid at the base and the end of the tree line. Additionally, the costumes used were all dated 1950s attire. The US Marshall’s suits and hats, not something you see in this day of age, almost a mafia style outfit with the flat brimmed hat. For those who worked for the island, white pants and white shirts, a very common theme seen in many movies featuring an asylum (for example, One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest). The actors do retain their natural looks though, as there is very little makeup to alter their appearances.

Shutter Island: Acting Review

Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley are all professional actors and most certainly quite popular. Leonardo DiCaprio is the headlining star as we know. These actors are very important to the success of the film. They each bring their own style to the table for the director to use how he pleases. Martin Scorsese has had a connection with Leonardo for years, as you can see he plays in a number if Martin’s films. Be that as it is, Leonardo brings artistic skills which I am sure he has a say in. Throughout the film, there are a number of “jump cuts” and few cuts in which the actor didn’t finish his line or her/she made an error. These “jump cuts” however may be purposeful to create a tension effect (i.e. looking into different directions). Highlighting is clearly evident. I mean, Martin has a thing for Leonardo, so expect to see Leonardo because he is the giant head on the poster, and more realistically, he is the main character. This is quite noticeable as he has been in a number of box office hits throughout the past few years. The style of his acting is very iconic, as it doesn’t change much, if the slightest. His values always portray “the American dream” (i.e. The Great Gatsby, The Wolf of Wall Street). The idea many at a young age look to obtain. Each actor is using a 1950s stylized approach to acting, from their dialogue, to their gestures, and to their movements (body language, person-person interactions). Ben Kingsley, who portrays Dr. Crawley, actually looks like a doctor with his serious looks and smart tongue. Mark Ruffalo, who portrays Chuck Aule, maintains facial expressions well, or he always looks that way, because his face makes you wonder what is wrong with Teddy Daniels, pay attention and you’ll notice it too.