Citizen Kane

BFI Film Classics

by Laura Mulvey

Citizen Kane 's unchallenged reputation as one of the greatest films in all cinema is matched only by the accumulation of critical commentary that surrounds it. What more can there be to say about a masterpiece so universally acknowledged? As Laura Mulvey shows in a fresh and original reading, the richness of the film, both thematically and stylistically, is inexhaustible. In a lucid and perceptive critique she investigates the psychoanalytic structure that underlines the film's presentation of Kane's biography, for once taking seriously what Orson Welles himself disparagingly referred to as "dollar-book Freud." She also illuminates the film's historical context, revealing it to be a prescient commentary on the isolationist politics of prewar America.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Psychoanalysis, Art, Media Tie In, Academic, Criticism

87 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Laura Mulvey is an English feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London. She worked at the British Film Institute for many years before taking up her current position.

Mulvey is best known for her essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema", written in 1973 and published in 1975 in the influential British film theory journal Screen. It later appeared in a collection of her essays entitled Visual and Other Pleasures, as well as in numerous other anthologies. Her article, which was influenced by the theories of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, is one of the first major essays that helped shift the orientation of film theory towards a psychoanalytic framework. Prior to Mulvey, film theorists such as Jean-Louis Baudry and Christian Metz used psychoanalytic ideas in their theoretical accounts of the cinema. Mulvey's contribution, however, inaugurated the intersection of film theory, psychoanalysis and feminism.

(via wiki)

Reviews

[Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Laura Mulvey declares herself from the outset to be a feminist critic. She then quickly admits that a feminist reading of Citizen Kane wouldn't be that fruitful. However, she says that she will put the movie through the rigors of what she things is the cornerstone of feminist criticism - Freudian analysis. I am not familiar (or interested) enough in either Freudian analysis or feminist criticism to know if the result in this book is successful in either discipline. I can say that it made for pretty dull reading and not much insight into this endlessly fascinating film.

If I had a nickel for every time she uses the word 'Oedipal' or 'fetish'..........

[Zohal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting, but there was nothing really groundbreaking about it.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

My expectations for this one were simply a bit of a recap of the story along with some possible ways of interpreting it. As long as you don't expect an encyclopedia, I think this will prove very rewarding and useful.

There's a lot of background stuff regarding what happened in the making of the film, which was what I mostly wanted from a book like this. At the same time, it touches upon the various themes and topics that you might think about in relation to the film, which is why it works - serious in-depth reading should come after this book, not in it, but this provides a good insight into the different ways of looking at the film.

[Steffen · Rating 3 out of 5]

that’s enough Oedipal complex for today...

[Lizzieb123 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this for PhD school (I’m a musicologist who focuses on film). I found this rather fascinating! Easy to read as well. I really was not looking forward to the Freudian analysis, but it ended up being rather interesting.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

My wife picked up a stack of the BFI's classic film series books at a library sale, and if this one is any indication, it will be a pleasure to read them. Laura Mulvey is an experimental filmmaker and an academic focusing on feminist and psychoanalytic theory, and she brings these varied strands of her background together in her analysis of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. To my relief, she avoids the dry, overcooked insularity that plagues a lot of academic writing, presenting her ideas and analysis in a readable, inviting way that doesn't ignore the pleasures of watching a movie. At less than 100 pages, the book can't explore its ideas in depth, but it works as a broad overview. I'm generally not a fan of the Freudian analysis of art, but Citizen Kane is a more than appropriate subject for that approach.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a film as complex as "Citizen Kane," the possibilities of interpretation and analysis are really countless. Mulvey does a solid job of giving her own perspective on what is below the surface, and one that is interesting and insightful. She talks a lot about psychoanalytical factors or potential reasons for characters' actions or the structure of the film. I enjoyed reading her thoughts about "Citizen Kane" and think it's definitely worth reading, as I think there's a lot of validity to her claims and the book also discusses things that were in the original script and taken out (or vice versa) which completely changes the idea behind parts of the story. But, also keep in mind that it's just one perspective -- again, because the film is so complex, the possibilities are endless!

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in the BFI Film Classics series. Although I have never been one of those who consider Citizen Kane the greatest film of all time, it definitely represented a landmark in cinema history, and this book explains why. It points out the many ways in which the film differs from the average Hollywood movie, and some of the innovations, both technically and thematically, which made it so outstanding. It also gives a psychoanalytic reading of the film which goes beyond the superficial Freudian interpretation of the "Rosebud" motif, and integrates it with the political and social themes. A book which added to my appreciation of the film.

[Sps · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precise, economical, assured, but offered with a certain humility too. She manages to talk about the film's political and historical context and give a thorough analysis of the story's development without neglecting detailed examination of particular shots and choices of lighting, framing, cuts, script revisions, etc.

"The appeal to read the scene is made, and also frustrated." (28)

On Susan Alexander Kane: "as spectacle, attempting to impersonate the erotic codes essential for woman as spectacle, she knows she fails." (68)


An NPS recommendation.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too much feminist psychoanalist approach and comparison with William Randolph Hearst for my taste. Other BFI Film classic titles I read favoured the direct contact with the film (which I prefer also). But if you're into Mulvey you may be fully satisfied.

[afoty boy · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really wish this had been structured properly. it's free association style leaves a lot of loose ends which are glossed over real higgledy-piggledy - although that was the first time i'd read that term in an academic text and it was very exciting. Mulvey's problem seems to be in finding the proper structure to accommodate her compelling views. although i did find mulvey's notion of an ideological transition from kane as a radical leftist to staunch conservative/protofascism to be weak as it never really transcended from the personal to the political. anyway i dug the freudian analysis and the brief utilisation of semiotics was cool. i was expecting some dense post-modernist thought but this was surprisingly accommodating for the philistines.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mostly convincing Freudian psychoanalysis of the plot with some fine historical underpinnings. The best of this series add real spice to the films, and this one does not disappoint. My main criticism is that I wanted more on the actors and their performances. For another day/source.....

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slim volume which makes a powerful case for a psychoanalytical reading of Kane, while also placing it in its historical context as an anti-fascist movie seeking to stir the US to action over the war in Europe.

[Zeynep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mulvey, Yurttaş Kane’i 1940’ların Amerikan tecritçiliğiyle, Avrupa’nın geçmişiyle ve bireysel hafızanın ideolojik aygıtlarıyla örüyor. Film bir karakter biyografisi değil, bir çağın bilinçdışı...

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wrapped itself a little too much in Freudian analysis. I'm pretty partial to it, myself, but it's a not what you do its the way that you do it kind of situation.

I did appreciate how she tied the film in with the geopolitical situation of the time- Kane (hearst) is a conservative, rabidly conservative, isolationist. Earlier drafts of the script made more of this tie-in with fascism (or at least fascist sympathies- at that point in history, for Americans, not altogether that much of a difference) to the extent that they even portrayed Kane's son growing up to be a straight-up Nazi. She makes more out of Welles' politics and social commitment than most people generally do- which is interesting and important.

[Castille · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVE this series! This particular book is particularly one-sided towards the left, though, so be prepared for that. As someone who sees Kane neither as a protagonist or antagonist, but rather a person like any other who has great qualities as well as demons, I appreciated Mulvey's perspectives, even though she definitely seems mostly opposed to Kane.

[Sagar Jethani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little bit of analysis. Brought out aspects of the film I had never noticed before. Could have done without all the Freudian interpretation, but I suppose that reflects contemporaneous literary analysis.