Citizen Kane: the tool

Citizen Kane has been rightfully hailed as a landmark film: visually rich, cinematically innovative, technically groundbreaking. Like a great novel, viewers return to it again and again to mine the depths of its seemingly infinite inspiration.

On my last viewing it took on new meaning and, perhaps, purpose for me. It seemed to me to be a perfect tale/tool for illustrating to students how we expect them to build understanding by researching, assessing and analyzing resources to construct meaning.

Citizen Kane tells and retells the life of Charles Foster Kane. Kane is a many-layered man (We are reminded of this by the memorable image of his infinite image as he walks amid mirrors!).

His story is told from several points of view (think resources): the news media, primary sources (a diary), and interviews from family, employees, and friends. Each of these sources provides “evidence” of Kane’s character and life. It is up to us, however, to sift through the information; discounting prejudices, corroborating facts, reading between the lines, and comparing it all to our own experiences to develop an understanding of our own. Indeed, the traditional authoritative source, “News on the March” has thrown up its hands convinced that its story is not the complete story.

I think the film would be a great introduction to a research unit. It illustrates our expectation of student research, especially today: to not find answers on the Internet, but to build meaning from what they find by using critical thinking skills; making the meaning their own.