Why do people say that Citizen Kane is the greatest movie of all time?

Question

I get really bored after the first few minutes of this film. Why do people love it so much? I know it was groundbreaking at the time, but does that actually make it any good? It seems so overhyped!

Answer 1

It was - and IS - overhyped!!!

Firstly, popularity is hardly an indication of a great movie... just consider that "Home Alone" was one of the top-20 grossing movies of all time. Enough said.

Hell, I liked “The Goonies” better than “Citizen Kane”! What REALLY irks me, though, are the film academics who TEACH it as the best movie ever made and who dismiss all opposing opinions as being undereducated by saying things like “you just don’t understand the movie, then”.

Well… I understand it… but I still do not think “Citizen Kane” is the greatest movie ever made (in fact, it did not even make my personal top 50). In my opinion, it was not even all that well made and only deserved two of the four Oscars it received.

Look, the reality is: in 1941, Orson Wells could have filmed himself defecating on his mother's grand piano and it would have been considered ground-breaking artistic genius. With the Mercury Theatre having just been established (with unprecedented hype in Hollywood), the broadcast version of "The War of the Worlds" being just released (originally an event that panicked an entire nation and dominated the media still in '41), and the fact that it was the eagerly awaited first film of the nation’s top radio star… the critics of the early '40s would have licked Mommy's piano clean just to kiss the bottom it came from. Sad sheep.

Yes, FOR THE TIME, it was an engrossing mystery, excellent writing, descent cinematography, phenomenal sound (of course - it was the first film of a radio veteran), and voted the best film of the year by the Academy... but it also lost RKO a reported $150,000 which was a HUGE amount of money in the early forties. For any other budding director of that era, it would have meant utter ruin. In fact, Wells had so many flops after that, he eventually exiled himself to Europe (where his top award was a prize at the 1958 Brussels World's Fair for “Touch of Evil”). Yet, in spite of a career full of box-office flops, he (SOMEHOW) received the American Film Institute’s lifetime achievement award in ’75 and (likewise puzzling) the Director’s Guild of America’s D.W. Griffith award in ‘84… but such was the massive popularity of Orson Wells the man, the voice, maybe the legend… but NOT the movie maker.

Was it really the FILM, then, that is considered the greatest... or just a the story told? Either way, what gauge is it that positions this movie at its pinnacle?

The awards, perhaps? Well, “Citizen Kane” did received 4 Oscars and 9 other nominations... but “Gone With the Wind” won 8 Oscars (and 6 other wins and nominations) just two years earlier, and “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” won four Oscars, also… AND another 77 wins and 83 nominations, so that can’t be it.

Could it be the greater purpose it served? No. There, too, it falls short of many movies before and since (like “Shindler’s List”, which, by the way, made my personal top-5).

Was it possibly the MOST ground-breaking movie? Well, I think George Lucas would argue that his “Star Wars” was, as would Quentin Tarantino for his “Pulp Fiction”. And what of films such as “Nosferatu” and “Toy Story”, surely they were as ground-breaking as “Citizen Kane”.

...or is it still just the hype (whether by media or academia -- which both frequently display self-perpetuated bias)?

As I said earlier, popularity is hardly an indication of a great movie, but “Citizen Kane” is not even the most POPULAR movie. Hell, "Casablanca" came out the very next year (1942) and is listed by IMdb as the top movie of the 1940's with 110,851 votes (vs. "Citizen Kane" with 95,855 votes)... making "Citizen Kane" only the SECOND most popular movie of that DECADE, not alone of all time.

Bottom line…

All other scales aside, there is one truth which remains: A truly great movie needs no academic explanation. "Of Mice and Men" seemed easy enough to understand, though the concepts were also complex, ground-breaking, and served to convey a greater message... as did "To Kill a Mockingbird", "It's a Wonderful Life", "Crash", and many others.

I, too, have been explained the significance of the film by a few professors… and understand it full well... but I maintain the simple fact that I had to be explained its significance (and I am a fairly educated man) discounts it from being the best MOVIE of all time, as a movie's primary concern is to covey a story to the masses. If a movie has to be explained (especially by an academic) to the average person to be appreciated, than that movie has failed in it’s most fundamental purpose… and that is NOT movie greatness.

Answer 2

Do you know why it was groundbreaking? that would be your first clue to the brilliance of this movie. I had a teacher who explained some of the symbolism in the movie and the next time I watched it, I appreciated it much more than the 1st time.

But I can agree with you on one aspect: The movie was shot in 1939 and released in 1941 - so that means in 66 years no movie has surpassed it? It seems affected to believe this when you consider The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Lord of the Rings, Raging Bull, To Kill a Mockingbird and others.

But if someone feels Braveheart or Herbie the Love Bug is the greatest film ever, who are we to dispute their taste?

Answer 3

A Patch of Blue. field of desires, Rebecca,Shadow of a Doubt, Portrait of Jenny,The Enchanted Cottage, i would be Seeing You, Mr. Blandings build His Dream residing house", Apollo XIII,To Kill A Mockingbird, 12 offended adult men, Fail risk-free, Inheirit The Wind, The existence of Emile Zola,The gruesome American, The devil at 4 O'Clock, King of Kings,on the grounds which you Went Away, human beings Will communicate, Johnny Belinda, Kitty Foyle, The Seven twelve months Itch. those are paintings to me!! and that i could communicate them below the heading Theatre and movie.

Answer 4

Because there was nothing like it at the time. I personally like the film alot myself. but i understand how you feel. I feel the same wa about The English Patient. I thought it was boring as hell, but it won all these awards including Oscar and Golden Globe for best pic and I don't get it.

Answer 5

I wish I knew why. It's an ok movie but nothing special in my opinion

Answer 6

Find an open mind and sit down and truly watch the movie and pay attention, you may learn something.

Answer 7

It's not. Braveheart is the best movie of all time.

Answer 8

iam with you i think its because people been told for years its good, like the kings new clothes story