---
title: "Citizen Kane"
year: 1941
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/citizen-kane"
fi1m_id: "citizen-kane"
imdb_id: "tt0033467"
tmdb_id: 15
wikidata_id: "Q24815"
fi1m_score: 93
critics_score: 95
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-12"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:01.511203+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Citizen Kane (1941)

Directed by Orson Welles · 1h 59m · MPA NR · Mystery, Drama

## Identity

Citizen Kane

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/citizen-kane
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** citizen-kane
- **IMDb ID:** tt0033467
- **TMDB ID:** 15
- **Wikidata ID:** Q24815
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033467/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/15, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24815

**Fi1m score: 93** · Critics 95 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* All that power, and people still insist on remembering things their own way

> *Citizen Kane* deserves its reputation because it makes the business of understanding a powerful man so absorbing. Orson Welles gives the technical ingenuity a human centre, though the elaborate structure sometimes keeps us at a distance.

## Synopsis

Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) is a media magnate whose life is pieced together through the recollections of others. Moving between accounts and periods, the film follows his exercise of power and the impressions he leaves on the people around him. Joseph Cotten plays Jedediah Leland, Dorothy Comingore plays Susan Alexander Kane, and Everett Sloane plays Mr Bernstein. A documentary-style account sits alongside the remembered episodes, with Kane appearing at different ages. As these accounts accumulate, the question is how much of a person can be understood from what other people remember.

## Review

*Citizen Kane* is an absorbing, often funny study of a powerful man, and we recommend it without requiring any homework in film history. Orson Welles directs and plays Charles Foster Kane, a media magnate whose life reaches us through other people’s recollections. The screenplay, by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles, gives those accounts enough room to make the telling itself interesting. We keep listening because a new account can alter what we thought we knew.

The documentary-style presentation gives the film a brisk, public way of describing a life, while the flashbacks let individual memories complicate it. That movement could easily become a tiresome exercise in correcting the record. Robert Wise’s editing makes the shifts inviting: a change of period renews our curiosity about Kane rather than making us work out where we have landed. Following the film rarely feels like an examination.

Gregg Toland’s deep-focus cinematography is the clearest example of how much work a picture can do. Keeping near and distant parts of the image sharp gives us more than one thing to attend to, and makes the people within it seem to have lives outside the immediate exchange. We can look past the speaker without losing the scene. The pleasure is in having that freedom while still feeling that Welles and Toland know where our attention will go.

The sound deserves equal attention. Overlapping dialogue allows voices to compete for our attention, with an energy that a tidy succession of speeches would lose. We hear a sadness in Bernard Herrmann’s score that suits this scrutiny of a powerful man’s life, though it is the speech we find ourselves listening to most closely.

Welles is the reason all this ingenuity matters. Playing Kane at different ages, he makes it possible to remain interested in the man without excusing the uses he makes of power. We were saddened by the older Kane, because Welles plays him with enough sympathy to make the damage done by power feel personal. There is enough wit in the performance to stop the psychological scrutiny becoming a long, solemn diagnosis.

Our reservation is that the elaborate sequence of recollections sometimes lets us consider a feeling before we have had much chance to share it. A further shift in time can interrupt our interest in the person speaking. We wanted to stay with the people for longer, particularly when Welles makes the passing of years felt in his performance. This is a limitation worth naming, though it does not make the flashbacks feel unnecessary.

Welles makes unusually good use of the mystery form by asking us to judge the people telling the story as well as the man they describe. Allow its 119 minutes your full attention. Choose an evening when there is time to listen; the conversations deserve as much attention as the pictures.

*Fi1m score 93, published 12 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The consensus is emphatically positive, with praise clustering around Citizen Kane’s storytelling, photography and sound. Critics repeatedly single out the deep-focus images, overlapping dialogue and flashback structure, describing techniques that still feel modern rather than merely important to film history. Welles draws praise for his direction and performance, while the film’s wit, psychological depth and sympathy for its central character give the reviews more to discuss than technical invention alone.

There is little disagreement and no substantial reservation in these accounts; the differences concern what each critic finds most compelling. The Times stresses the continuing relevance of the film’s treatment of power and hubris, while Slant Magazine gives more attention to its haunting, enigmatic characters and the use of recollections to build the narrative. The narrow spread of opinion reflects shared admiration for both the filmmaking and the complex life it reveals.

## Straight answers

**Is Citizen Kane worth watching?**

*Citizen Kane* is worth watching for anyone who enjoys a mystery built from other people's memories, and we scored it 93. Orson Welles plays the media magnate Charles Foster Kane at several ages with enough wit and sympathy to keep the study of power from turning solemn. Our one reservation is that the constant shifts in time sometimes move us on before a feeling has settled.

**How long is Citizen Kane, and what is it rated?**

*Citizen Kane* runs 1h 59m and is rated NR by the MPA in the US. It is a mystery and drama film.

**Where can I watch Citizen Kane in the US?**

*Citizen Kane* is available to rent from Amazon Prime Video from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does Citizen Kane compare to Rashomon?**

*Citizen Kane* and [*Rashomon*](https://film.one/film/rashomon) are both investigations built from conflicting accounts, but *Citizen Kane* is the funnier and more expansive of the two, following a whole life rather than a single killing. *Rashomon* is the more disturbing and the tighter film, though its dialogue sometimes repeats what the images have shown. Choose *Citizen Kane* for wit and scale, *Rashomon* for a fiercer, more unsettling evening.

**What should I watch after Citizen Kane?**

After *Citizen Kane*, try [*Rashomon*](https://film.one/film/rashomon) (1950, Fi1m 92): Another investigation in which listening carefully makes certainty harder to maintain. Then [*The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp*](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp) (1943, Fi1m 91): A long life examined with warmth, wit and an unsparing eye; and [*Sweet Smell of Success*](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success) (1957, Fi1m 88): For more media power exercised through talk, charm and calculated cruelty.

### Reviews we read (9)

- **The Times**, Kate Muir (★★★★★): The review highlights the film's modern structure, faux-documentary style, deep-focus cinematography and resonances with contemporary power and hubris. It notes Welles was only 25 when he made his debut, which was voted the greatest American movie in a BBC poll, and praises its timeless relevance. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/classic-film-citizen-kane-1941-9clhppcmr)
- **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (5/5): The critic calls it the film that changed everything and praises its enduring wit, tragedy, uniqueness and fascination. They single out the groundbreaking combination of deep-focus photography, overlapping dialogue and labyrinthine flashback structure. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/citizen-kane)
- **Empire** (95/100, inferred): The critic positions Citizen Kane as an undisputed cultural benchmark and the greatest film of all time, praising its modern feel, innovative techniques, intelligence, wit, and the way it realises the infinite possibilities of cinema despite its age. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/citizen-kane-review/)
- **Total Film** (95/100, inferred): The critic affirms that Citizen Kane remains unassailable as the granddaddy of cinema, highlighting its innovative flashback structure, bold sound design, deep-focus cinematography, and the astonishing achievement of the young Orson Welles across multiple roles. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/citizen-kane-review/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Chris Cabin (90/100, inferred): The review emphasizes the film's haunting depiction of power, psychological depth, and enigmatic figures, singling out its rich visual style, set pieces, and narrative structure built through recollections as standout elements. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/citizen-kane-6483/)
- **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it probably the most exciting film to come out of Hollywood in twenty-five years, if not the most exciting film from anywhere. It praises the innovative camera and microphone work, the directness of style, the economic storytelling that reveals the full life of the media magnate Kane, and the unfettered creativity of Welles, Toland and the Mercury Theatre players. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1941/oct/12/derekmalcolmscenturyoffilm)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert: Ebert calls the film a miracle and a masterpiece that gathers the lessons of the sound era. He singles out its innovative structure, deep-focus cinematography, and elliptical storytelling that reveals Kane through others' memories while preserving a human touch amid its technical brilliance. [Read](https://rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-citizen-kane-1941)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, THR Staff: The critic calls Citizen Kane a great motion picture, praising its innovative storytelling, technical achievements in photography and direction, low-budget ingenuity, and Orson Welles' astonishing performance across ages. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/citizen-kane-review-1941-movie-998891/)
- **The New Yorker**, John C. Mosher: Mosher praises the film as something new and revolutionary in cinema, with fresh air sweeping through conventions via its elliptical method and original craftsmanship. He highlights Welles' direction and performance as the center of interest, noting its solid value, human touch, and ability to trace a complex life without losing sympathy for the character. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1941/05/03/citizen-kane-movie-review-orson-welles)

## Details

- **Director:** Orson Welles
- **Director:** Orson Welles
- **Screenplay:** Orson Welles, Herman J. Mankiewicz
- **Cinematography:** Gregg Toland
- **Editor:** Robert Wise
- **Music:** Bernard Herrmann
- **Costume design:** Edward Stevenson
- **Producer:** Orson Welles
- **Cast:** Orson Welles as Charles Foster Kane; Joseph Cotten as Jedediah Leland; Dorothy Comingore as Susan Alexander Kane; Ray Collins as Jim W. Gettys; George Coulouris as Walter Parks Thatcher; Agnes Moorehead as Mary Kane; Paul Stewart as Raymond; Ruth Warrick as Emily Norton Kane
- **Runtime:** 1h 59m
- **Certificate (MPA):** NR
- **Release (the US):** 5 September 1941
- **Genres:** Mystery, Drama
- **Also in:** [Best Picture winners](https://film.one/collections/oscar-best-picture.md) (Nominee, 1941); [The classics, without the homework](https://film.one/collections/classics-without-the-homework.md)
- **Budget:** $839,727
- **Box office:** $23 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAcLNMkzfTE

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, uhd

*Checked 2026-09-12.*

Also available in: AR, AT, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, ES, FR, GB, IE, IT, LT, MX, NL, NO, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1942: Best Actor (nominated); Best Art Direction, Black and White (nominated); Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (nominated); Best Film Editing (nominated); Best Original Dramatic Score (nominated); Best Picture (nominated); Best Sound (nominated); Best Writing, Original Screenplay (won)

## If you liked this

- *Rashomon* (1950), Fi1m 92: Another investigation in which listening carefully makes certainty harder to maintain. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rashomon.md)
- *The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp* (1943), Fi1m 91: A long life examined with warmth, wit and an unsparing eye. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-life-and-death-of-colonel-blimp.md)
- *Sweet Smell of Success* (1957), Fi1m 88: For more media power exercised through talk, charm and calculated cruelty. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/sweet-smell-of-success.md)
- *The Leopard* (1963), Fi1m 88: An ageing man of influence watches his authority become less useful. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-leopard.md)
- *The Social Network* (2010), Fi1m 91: Competing accounts of ambition, ownership and friendship, with equally sharp dialogue. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-social-network.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/citizen-kane