This is rather a brief commentary on the film and its meaning.
At first, I didn't realize what Rosebud was, I thought it was a chair, close enough I guess.
I actually appreciated that it was his sled. I thought it sort of showed how there are certain things you can't let go in life. It adds to the whole idea that you cannot really know a person. All along we thought Kane was this egotistical man (which in many ways he was), but on his death bed, he could only remember what once was. Rosebud showed that everyone would only care about this word if it was something "significant." The beauty of it was that it wasn't significant to anyone but Kane. Rosebud showed that no matter how old we get, there is still a longing for youth and innocence. Perhaps Kane wasn't such a bad man who wanted all these possessions, perhaps all this time he just wanted to turn back time to that winter on the sled. Maybe society created "Kane", and when in the end all he wanted was "Rosebud", everyone was dissappointed.
I think Rosebud was a strong commentary on isolation. Here we all were, "dissappointed" that Rosebud wasn't a code that would end the world or something, and it turned out to be a scene from his memory. Kane did lose Rosebud, and he would never get it back. Maybe it doesn't matter who took it from him, but maybe all this time he thought that material things would comfort him and in some way bring Rosebud back. Kane lived and died alone, and Rosebud was a beautiful way to show that.
Nice commentary. I like that you saw the ending as satisfying because it gives me more of a perspective on how people that didn't know the ending ahead of time felt. I always just assumed that people would be disappointed because it wasn't an answer that tore the house down. Even though I knew what Rosebud was ahead of time, the disappointment was still there because I felt it was so insignificant. But as you proved, it was not insignificant at all.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to know what to say about Rosebud, and that's the fun of it. If you take it at face value, then, yes, it shows Kane is very sentimental and longs for the idyll of his youth. But, perhaps it's all a sham. He's just deluding himself somehow, or ... I lost my train of thought. ordinarily, I'd just delete this comment and come back to it later. But, I'll leave it up as is. Thanks for a very thoughtful analysis. I enjoy reading your prose.
ReplyDeleteI sat here for a while trying to figure out whether or not I had anything to say about this. Although I think your analysis is right on, I still don't like Rosebud. In waking life, Kane showed no desire to go back to what he had, be close to his family, or be innocent. Although with all his money, he had the opportunity to any of these things at any time. For his actions to contradict his feelings so much makes little sense to me. Also, Kane was a selfish man, and I would think it too ironic if he never actually granted himself what he truly desired (the past and innocence).
ReplyDeleteMr. Bennett mentioned the possibility of Kane deluding myself. Part of me says that's right. The two times he mentions Rosebud is after Susan Alexander leaves him and when he's dying. Apparently he thinks of Rosebud only when things go wrong or he's in great pain or agony or something... he misses innocence only when he's at a loss. But I don't know. That's what my gut tells me. However, the whole theme of not knowing the face behind the mask may blow my opinion out of the water...
I think I disagree with you Stephanie. I thought all of Kane's selfish actions were his attempts to control things and in a childish way find happiness and love. I don't know what I'm really talking about either though. Anyway, I was really glad that rosebud was something fairly "insignificant," but it really could be anything. Well I was actually going to post about this on my blog, but I don't know.
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