Orson Welles's Citizen Kane: A Casebook

By: Naremore, James

Book Overview

Citizen Kane is arguably the most admired and significant film since the advent of talking pictures. No other film is quite so interesting from both artistic and political points of view. To study it even briefly is to learn a great deal about American history, motion-picture style, and the literary aspects of motion-picture scripts. Rather than presenting a sterile display of critical methodologies, James Naremore has gathered a set of essays that...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019515892X
• ISBN13: 9780195158922
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A comprehensive commentary on the greatest movie ever

As a "student" of this film for many years, I of course had to give this a try, though I've read many other analysis articles and books before on the greatest film of all times, which CITIZEN KANE definitely is. What makes this book different and really enjoyable is that Naramore, the editor, compiles various articles/essays that look at KANE from different perspectives and concentrating on different aspects of it. To me, the most interesting chapters were an interview with Orson Welles conducted by Peter Bogdonovich (very revealing) and another, a detailed history by Robert Carringer of all the many drafts of the screenplay showing how the story concept evolved over time. Of course, there is also a commentary by Naramore himself on the style and meaning of the film that is definitely worth reading as well. But having mentioned these three, let me say that the entire package is a great read. If you're as great a fan of this film as I am, I think this is the best and most comprehensive look at it that you can find. After reading, as can be predicted, I had to get the DVD out and see KANE yet again - and did. It's great when, though you can't count the number of times you've seen a favorite film, something like this book comes along to give you new reasons to see it one more time.