Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, a very American tragedy

May 6 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Orson Welles. His 1941 film, Citizen Kane, is probably the most highly-rated film in history. The film is remarkable because of its innovative cinematic techniques in photography, editing, and sound. But a film is good only to the extent these techniques enhance the story.

Humans are, above all else, story lovers. We love to tell stories and hear stories and see stories. We often think of our own lives as our story.

What makes for a good story? One of the first and most influential attempts at answering this question was put forth by the Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle in a discussion of the greatest expression of theater in his day, classical Greek tragedy.

Our English word 'tragedy” is used in a variety of ways, but certain works of art do rightly claim the title. Tragedies - like the Greek tragedies, Antigone, Oedipus Rex and Shakespeare's tragedies, especially Romeo and Juliette, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello and King Lear - are some of the most influential and powerful stories ever told.

Orson Welles came from classical theater. He directed more than 30 performance of Shakespeare, including a widely acclaimed 1937 production of Julius Caesar, a 1948 film version of Macbeth and a 1952 film version of Othello.

Aristotle claimed, 'Tragedy … is a play … that tells a noble story … it relies on actors; and it evokes a sense of profound pity and fear, in such a way that the spectators experience a sobering emotional relief.” Thus, an essential element of tragedy is our identity with a hero who suffers due to his failure to control a flaw. This is why Citizen Kane is the American tragedy.

The pain and sadness of Charles Foster Kane's life in this film is the result of the belief that money brings all the good things of life.

This is the flaw that haunts Charles Foster Kane and it is a most American flaw.

Although hardly any American would say money brings all good things, the lives of most Americans tell a different story. We play lotteries despite overwhelming odds against winning. Our most influential people are those of great wealth: Warren Buffett, Sam Walton, etc. We want to be like the young Charlie Kane, able to buy whatever we want.

For Charlie, it's a newspaper. He even buys an opera house for his wife in a failed attempt to make her a singing star. The low-key lighting adds to the eeriness of the mass of possessions that make Kane's Xanadu so unsatisfying.

As his wife, Susan Alexander, complains in an unpleasant monotone, there is, 'Nobody to talk to, nobody to have fun with. Forty-nine thousand acres of nothing but scenery and statues.” Although Charlie Kane thought he could use his money to control the world, it is his money that controls him. Kane is spent by his money.

The film viewer feels a last sadness for Kane as the sled, 'Rosebud,” is burned as a superfluous possession. It reminds us of what Kane has lost - innocence, family and love.

We, the viewers, are purged, even if just a little, of our belief in the power of money. This is what makes Citizen Kane the great, American, film.

' Joseph Givvin is a professor emeritus of philosophy at Mount Mercy University. Comments: jgivvin@yahoo.com