Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Jigsaw Narrative
Multiple narrators tell he story of Charles Foster Kane's life. We see his life in a newsreel format, in Thatcher's memoirs, and as told by Bernstein, Leland, Susan Alexander, and even Raymond, the butler. What is the point of telling the story in this way? Does each narrator give a specific "spin" or have a particular bias? Does each see a distinctive aspect of Kane's personality? Is each section told in a different way, utilizing different techniques of filming (such as camera angles, deep focus, lighting, or even choice of music)? What" bang for our buck" do we get from this jigsaw narration? Is it equal to or greater than the sum of its parts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Movies, books and stories in general are naturally told in chronological order. This provides a fluidity for the audience that prevents any confusion and makes the stories much easier to understand. The “jigsaw” style narrative in Citizen Kane is used as an overarching symbol of Kane’s life. The story is not in chronological order. Rather than starting the film with Kane as a child in the snow the first scene is the death of Charles Kane. Confusion and puzzlement is already beginning to set in with the audience after just the first scene. They know little about who Kane is and the first thing they find out is that he dies. All throughout the film there are flashbacks and events from different narrators that don’t line up chronologically. I believe that this is purposely done by the producers of Citizen Kane to show Kane’s life symbolized in the structure of the narrative. His life is hectic and not everything that he does seems to make sense to him, to the people around him or to the audience. The “confusion” of the narrative is used to enhance the film and portray the life of Charles Kane in a much deeper sense. Along with the narrative structure, film techniques such as camera angles and camera framing further complement the films symbolism of Charles Kane’s life. Low Camera angles looking up at him express his self-confidence and power that he believes he has over other people. The camera framing is used to show his separation from his wives and colleagues and the emptiness of his house and the emptiness of his life. The structure of the narrative is incredibly well done to put symbolism in every part of this film. There is a deep meaning behind Citizen Kane that is left for the audience to decide and the “jigsaw” narrative is just another piece to the puzzle of what Rosebud and the life of Charles Kan really means.
ReplyDeleteThe hectic structure of Citizen Kane is intently filmed to symbolize Kane’s crumbling life. As the viewer, we see Charles Foster Kane as a deeply troubled man despite being very rich. Using interviews as a background for the flashbacks, the story switches between the past and the current time period as the characters are being interviewed. Right from the introduction, the viewer is shown a confusing sequence of events: Kane, now old and alone, dies on his deathbed and drops a snow globe. His last word is “Rosebud”. After a scene that introduces the interviewer of all of the characters, the film cuts back to the beginning of Kane’s life. Already, the film has cut between these scenes in quick succession and, as a result, confuses the viewer. The confusion is intentional, as it acts as symbolism for Kane’s troubled life. Despite this, camera angles and shots are used to illustrate his supposed power over everyone else. Low and high angle shots in the picnic scene depict his dominance over Susan. Low shots in the scene where he talks to Jedediah after his election show a false sense of power and ego. Characters interviewed throughout the film have different bias towards Kane. Mr. Bernstein idolizes Kane and still admires him in present day (in the film). In contrast, Jedediah talks about Kane in a disappointed manner, although he does reminisces their close relationship as friends. After watching all of these different pieces come together, the ending still leaves the viewer ask questions and despite the “jigsaw”-like structure, the film comes together in an organic fashion that proves it is one of the greatest films in history.
ReplyDeleteCitizen Kane's use of the Jigsaw Narrative structure allowed for the near entirety of Kane's character to be visited by the writer, and therefore the characters and audience. This was done through interviews from multiple different characters who were close to Kane, and all saw a different side of him. For example, Bernstein saw Kane as an idol, not only as a business man but also as a person. This is shown through both the way he talked about Kane, as well as visual cues such as the massive portrait of the billionaire in his office. Bernstein's view of Kane was that Kane was a superbly charismatic person who was good-hearted. In contrast, Leland saw Kane as a man focused on his own self-interests. This is shown through Leland's attention to the darker details of Kane's life, such as his affair and his manipulative hold on the Inquirer. The manipulative hold shows up in the scene when Leland is fired for writing a bad review of Susan Alexander's opera. Additionally, the account of Kane's life from Susan's perspective shows the emotionally manipulative, borderline abusive side of Kane, which Bernstein never saw. If this same story were to have been told in a linear, single-perspective manner, the writer would not have had the ability to touch on so many different sides of Kane's character and still make the story flow.
ReplyDelete