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I do think the story has some legitimate applications in the regular classroom, but I belong to some message boards where high school aged kids have complained about being forced to watch it.
"It's soooooo boring" was the most popular assessment of Kane.
Ah kids these days with thier MP3s and Twitter thingies.
The real problem is that kids today are not being taught proper critical thinking skills, a legacy of Bush's failed "No Child Left Behind" policies which only taught rote memorization. High schoolers should be taught how to watch films, not just look at them.
tl;dr: Citizen Kane should be viewed as a work of art for dissection and appreciation as part of what is canon in cinema, not because “you can’t understand the character of our country unless you’ve seen this film.”
Thanks so much for starting my day off with a big-assed laugh, bro. :-) Transformers... priceless.
As to your question, I don't know for sure - but even for a movie as old as that there are amazing elements to it in every facet of filmmaking. From the camera angles used, the cinematography, use of aging make up on Kane, the "mystery" plotline in an otherwise non-mystery movie... you could go on and on.
And I STILL refuse to sign up for "IntenseDebate." Don't know why... call it a rebellious streak.
Best,
Vic
Money is just the front game, the real game,,,,,"control" is held in the VIP room.
Never seen Citizen Kane, doubt it would change my world view,,,,
Vic
You know that's not the argument. Kane is probably a victim more than anything else for being called the best American film ever made - it makes people who think it's great, but not mindblowing, scoff at it.
Seriously, we can teach cultural appreciation, but pesky old subjectivity gets in the way of Kane getting widely accepted enough to represent American cinema. If you could only teach one film to students, would it really be Kane?
No, but Citizen Kane is a movie that really should be seen by everyone, it is probably one of the most powerful movies of our time.
Jessica
Vancouver WA
Honestly, I just watched it recently. The plot was great, and I can see why people really enjoyed the movie. I loved the "money can't buy everything" theme. One quote really stood out to me as well, "Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money... if what you want to do is make a lot of money." I'm not going to be one of the "kids" here and say that it was a boring piece of trash. You really have to look at it in context and appreciate it for its quality and attention to detail, which a lot of movies are sorely lacking these days.
I took a film appreciation class in college, and this was not on the list of movies that we studied. In fact, my professor focused more on foreign films than anything else. Now had I not taken the class, I would probably never be watching any foreign films today. I always thought reading the subtitles was way too much work. Now, I couldn't imagine missing out on incredible films like Let the Right One In.
So, should it be required viewing for high schoolers? Eh, I have to disagree there. If you force them to watch movies like this, you're going to get a negative response, and they will never want to watch older movies ever again. I say it should be offered or at least discussed in any film class in college. In that case, the student actually chooses their schedule and what classes to take, so presenting a movie like this in college would probably garner less harsh attitudes towards older movies. Discussion is also key here. If they don't like it, then they should give specific examples to support their argument.
Just a thought... ;-)
Forcing kids to watch, read, or listen to anything really only succeeds in increasing the chances that they will despise the very thing you are pushing on them. Let people discover the film for themselves and make their own decisions.
I, for one, have given this film a chance, and can honestly and unapologetically say I didn't care for it.
I'm not America, but the idea of making Kane a must-see to highschoolers is totally ridiculous, certainly not the kids of our generation! :)