By Dr Ismail S Talib

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(No Transcript)
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Some Observations on Narrative in Citizen Kane

• .

By Dr Ismail S Talib
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Preamble

• Although my main concentration for this
  additional lecture will be narrative in Citizen
  Kane and in the cinema in general, I will also be
  taking this opportunity to review some of the
  main ideas discussed in the first half of the
  semester.

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Session Format

• I will begin with some observations on film and
  narrative and how you may want to view Citizen
  Kane.
• Students should view the film if they have not
  done so.

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What you should do

• You should bear in mind some of the topics we
  have discussed in viewing the film.
• Although I will be going through some of them in
  relation to the film, there may be some that I
  will overlook.

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A Fundamental Question

• A fundamental question in the analysis of cinema
  is how a narrative can be conveyed via
  non-linguistic means
• While viewing or thinking about the film (or any
  film for that matter) you should ask yourselves
  how this is done.

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Extension of This Question

• Although cinema may extend the possibilities of
  narrative via non-linguistic means, there are, as
  you know (earlier in this lecture topic), some
  scholars of cinema who have made use of
  linguistic concepts.
• How successful are they?
• Does a movie like Citizen Kane make any
  difference to their theorising?

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One Problem That Cannot be Resolved?

• Of course, a limitation of analysing only one
  film is that it is not possible to generalise for
  all films.
• But Citizen Kane in my view is more
  representative of the art of cinematic narrative
  than many other films.
• Nonetheless, you should ask yourselves at the
  same time whether its features are really
  generalisable, or if they are, the limits of
  generalisation.

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Story and Discourse

• An important issue
• The significance of discourse in the film story
  remains elusive because of the multiple
  perspectives and the reliability of the main and
  other narrators in the narrative.

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Setting Micro- and Macro-

• The difference between micro- and macro-settings
  may be of relevance here
• What is the default setting? Is there one?

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Setting Internal and External

• How are internal and external settings done in
  cinema when compared with narratives in other
  media?
• How are the changes in the emotional makeup of
  the characters (especially Kane) reflected on
  screen?
• In this connection, how is setting (both external
  and internal) related to film characterisation?

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Setting Indirect Presentation

• How is indirect presentation of setting done in
  cinema?
• Is it really indirect here?
• Does narration of a setting bring you there?
• There are several examples in the film where a
  characters narration brings one back to the
  scenes themselves.
• This question has to do with the treatment of
  time (anachrony).
• It also has to do with the nature of the medium.

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Setting Questions Specific to the Cinema

• Use of natural settings as opposed to studio
  settings
• The studio plays an extremely important part in
  Citizen Kane.
• Setting as seen through the camera
• Tilting of camera
• Positioning the camera at a low angle
• Use of wide-angle lens

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Setting As Seen By the Camera

• Use of wide-angle lens
• Created illusion of space
• Tilting of camera
• Positioning the camera at a low angle
• What happens if the camera is positioned at a
  higher angle?

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Characterisation Linkage of Characterisation and
Acting

• How closely linked are characterisation and
  acting in the film?
• Is the conception of film characterisation and
  acting historically different from what it is
  today?
• Is this a relevant question
• Are we less familiar today with the actors who
  make the film?

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Characterisation Make-Up

• A question you should ask concerning the medium
  how important is make-up to characterisation?

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Characterisation Microscopic Nature of Film
Acting

• How relevant or evident is the microscopic
  nature of film acting in Citizen Kane?

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Characterisation Contribution of the Camera

• A further question concerning the medium is the
  contribution made by the camera to
  characterisation some of the points on setting
  mentioned in a previous slide
• Tilting of camera
• Positioning the camera at a low angle
• Use of wide-angle lens
• Also close-ups and long shots
• Camera movements.

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Characterisation Dominant Traits

• How closely linked are the characters to certain
  dominant traits?
• Do these result in typecasting?
• Are the dominant traits appearing in certain
  characters due to the nature of the medium not
  enough time to develop the characters?
• How closely related are the characters to the
  theme of the movie? Do their dominant traits
  help in developing the theme?

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Characterisation Mimesis

• Mimesis quite obviously close to actual human
  beings than in written fiction?

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Characterisation Mimesis Actual Person

• The issue of mimesis becomes especially pertinent
  in Citizen Kane, as the character of Kane is
  based on an actual person the newspaper magnate,
  William Randolph Hearst.

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Characterisation Psychological Depth

• How much psychological depth is possible in film?

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Characterisation Ideological Dimension

• Ideologically, the film is quite obviously a
  reflection of American society at that time 30s
  40s
• How relevant is it to us?
• Is our ability / inability to relate to this of
  significance?
• In this regard, do these difficulties create
  problems in the evaluation of standards of
  behaviour in characterisation?

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Characterisation Evaluation of Standards of
Behaviour

• With reference to evaluation of standards of
  behaviour, what is your view of
• Kanes first wife?
• Her treatment by him?
• Or does the movie leave one with insufficient
  grounds for moral judgment?
• If this is so, what is the reason?

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Characterisation Kane as Hero

• What kind of hero is he?
• Is he really the hero?
• If hes not the hero, who is?
• Is the concept of the hero of relevance to the
  movie?

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Characterisation The Past

• How important is Kanes past in
• molding him as a person?

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Characterisation Direct and Indirect Presentation

• Are direct and indirect presentation of
  characters distinguishable in this film?
• This question hinges on the narratives emerging
  from the flashbacks centred on certain
  characters.
• Perhaps all characterisation in this film is
  indirect? Your answer here is related to
  characterisation in voice-over narration.

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Events Many More to Choose From

• As far as events in visual narratives are
  concerned, there are many more in film than in
  the comic strip.
• Are there too many to choose from in film?

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Events Macro- and Micro-Sequences

• Is a discussion of macro- and micro-sequences of
  events relevant to the movie?
• Or are they merely true but trivial?

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Events Causality

• How is causality indicated in the film?
• Causality may be affected by the reliability of
  narration.
• Or a more fundamental issue is there really
  causality in the film, and not merely a
  succession of images.

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Events Analepses Duration

• Flashbacks analepses how complicated is their
  construction in the film?
• Duration
• a) acceleration,
• b) deceleration,
• c) ellipsis
• d) descriptive pause and
• e) scene.

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Events Acceleration

• Looking specifically at acceleration see how
  Kanes deteriorating marriage to his first wife
  is related to us.
• Whose flashback is involved here? Is the
  character reliable?
• Are the reasons for Kanes unsatisfactory
  marriage made crystal-clear to us?

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Events Plot

• Plot How are the events combined to form the
  plot?
• Frequency Since the film involves the story
  being told (or discoursed) from various
  perspectives, is there repetition of events in
  the plot?
• How are suspense and surprise created in the plot?

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The Narrator / Point-of-View I

• The question, Is the narrator necessary for
  cinematic narratives?, is perhaps not clearly
  foregrounded in this film. Why is this so?
• The claim that the narrator is not the author is
  perhaps further complicated by the fact that
  there are autobiographical elements in Citizen
  Kane.

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The Narrator / Point-of-View II

• How closely related is the film to first-person
  narratives?
• The so-called objective point-of-view is
  derived from the conception of narrative
  perspective in terms of the camera eye. How
  objective is point-of-view in the film?
• How reliable are the narrators and the camera eye
  in the film?

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The Narrator / Point-of-View III

• How is suspense or surprise created by what the
  camera reveals / does not reveal to us?
• What kind of logic is involved in
• the camera revealing / not revealing certain
  scenes to us?
• camera angles / movements?

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The Narrator / Point-of-View IV

• Differences between camera-eye and voice-over
  narration.
• What are the instances in the film where there is
  a disjunction between what the camera-eye sees
  and what the voice-over narrator is capable of
  seeing or knowing?
• Does the disjunction create problems with the
  realism or credibility of the narrative?

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The Schema

• What schemas are involved in our response to
  Citizen Kane? Which schemas are
• cinematic
• non-cinematic, eg. based on print narratives?
• Does our ability or inability to appreciate the
  film have a schematic basis?
• for example, our schemas of what a film should be
  are different from those prevalent when the film
  was made.

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The Symbol Rosebud

• Rosebud as a symbol? Of what?
• Are there any other symbols in the movie?

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The Symbol Xanadu
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately
pleasure-dome decree Where Alph, the sacred
river, ran Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of
fertile ground With walls and towers were
girdled round And here were gardens bright with
sinuous rills Where blossomed many an
incense-bearing tree And here were forests
ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of
greenery.
Significance of Coleridges poem Kubla Khan
(first two stanzas on the right)
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The Symbol The Real Xanadu

• Xanadu is of course based on the Hearst estate
  his castle at San Simeon, California. We are
  looking at another definition of symbol here.

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Music

• How is music used in Citizen Kane?
• Use of a leitmotif?

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The Problem of Authorship

• Writer
• Director
• Cinematographer
• Camera-eye
• Actors
• Producer

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End of Presentation