citizen kane context??? (1 Viewer)

[braindead]

'reception of diff context' from syllabus. wat does that mean. How did the ppl in 1941 responded to it. i noe the context now, but wat was it then.. war and stuff?

 

[tempco]

Um, the film was outright scandalous during its time... If I remember correctly, the film was based on the life of William Randolph Hearst and another dude.. they were newspaper moguls in their respective eras... the film basically criticised those two individuals. I faintly recall reading along the lines of it being a satire of the american dream (working hard, getting money, and then becoming successful and happy)? Not quite sure about that though.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Of interest, on an artistic context, is that Welles was given unparalleled artistic control over his work, in the midst of the 'Studio', 'Classical' Hollywood era. Citizen Kane also has quite a lot of contemporary references, such as the 'March Of Time' ['March Of Dimes', I believe] and various others to Hearst.

Welles was only given such artistic freedom for 'Citizen Kane' (Which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, but won only for 'Best Screenplay'), as the story behind the filming of 'The Magnificient Ambersons' demonstrates.

And as for 'war' context, Citizen Kane pre-dates Pearl Harbour [December 7th.], but by 1941, Lend-Lease had already been in place, as well as other 'initatives' such as the counter-attack of U-Boats and trade embargoes placed upon Japan, so whilst not formally a warring nation, America was being pulled into conflict. (Whether this was willingly or not is another question altogether.)

 

[dani86]

about the war - i read in another thread that william randolph hearst fabricated a pretext for the spanish-american war.
also from what i can remember from my junior years.. WWII was 1939-1945... so i guess it was filmed in the middle of it? pressures from other countries..?
those are my ramblings