Film Opening Analysis: Citizen Kane (1941)

The film begins with a shot of a sign in the foreground bearing the message “No trespassing” with a castle in the background. This creates the feeling that the audience is trespassing the property and that what they are about to see is a secret. A lighted window remains in the same position in all the shots so when the zooms in, the audience knows with a sense of inevitability that the window is where they are headed. The light goes out when the camera has finally zoomed in to it – representing Kane’s death and also the last hope of solving the mystery that will propel the unnamed of protagonist for the remainder of the film. Many of the props shown in this sequence give clues as to the inhabitant of the castle. There is a gondola, creating a sense of exotica and also displacement – the gondola has been taken from Italy and put into this incongruous setting. This is rather like the character of Charles Foster Kane himself and is setting up the angst the will feel later in the film. The caged bear represents repressed anger; again setting up Kane’s angst. There are also ancient ruins, creating atmosphere of decay and ageing. This is reinforced in the editing through the use of dissolves which makes the shot feel as though it is slowly fading away. When the snowglobe smashes, it is exaggerated emphasising its importance. It also shatters the silence showing that he is alone and the close-up of the reflections in the glass fragments (distorted and out of proportion) shows his insanity and megalomania. The music is suspenseful, climaxing when we reach the close-up to him. This is to increase audience curiosity about what is inside the castle.

I liked the use of music to build up suspense and I would like to use this in my film too.