Interestingly, the stimulus contained in Synopsis, in fact, Orson Welles, star of radio drama, will debut as director of the feature film Citizen Kane, whose cornerstone is its reflection on the social and political power that the new media. There is therefore a bridge between the radio play, which shows the effects of the fourth estate in all its sociological and the violent reaction of the film.
Kane: sociological definition
they are called fourth estate the ability of media to influence the opinions and choices of the electorate. This is a metaphorical use of the term power, inspired by the legal theory of separation of powers of the state.
The concept that emerged with the spread of printing and the explosion of television, which has become the only source of information for the vast majority of the population of democratic countries, has made even more urgent than the issue of constitutional recognition.
The main risks for democracy as a result of improper use of this power, consisting of political control of the media and from possible of them in the hands of a small group of people. In these two cases, in fact, considering that those who control the media in general tend to filter information that is contrary to their interests, there would be a lack of pluralism, and thereby restrict the ability of the citizen-voters to form opinions informed and implement informed choices.
Citizen Kane: the spectator
Kane is the protagonist is the first feature film directed by Orson Welles. Loosely based on the life of the American magnate William Randolph Hearst, was released in theaters on May 1, 1941. Citizen Kane is considered one of the best films in cinema history. Kane was a milestone for the force with which emphasizes the centrality of the director, "author" in the full sense of the term, compared to the then dominant studio system. The film tells the life of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane incapable of loving but "only on his terms, with the consequence of the remaining void around him so only in his gigantic home (Xanadu), where he died forsaken by all.
Welles, using a sequence of flashbacks showing fragments of the tycoon's life, almost like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The viewer is left with the task to reconstruct - in all its complexity - the personalities of Charles Foster Kane. But it is a vain effort, because the fragments of the life of Kane do not allow to understand the essence if not in fact the only witness who was - very important - which caused the trauma of Kane: the departure from the parents, strongly supported by the mother in order to entrust the protection of a businessman, in charge of administering his immense legacy. Kane, the young heir to a colossal fortune, he was so torn from his world of childhood. As an adult conceive love as a possession, not as a gift, and this will lead inexorably to the despair and isolation.
Welles makes it an open work that calls the audience not only to reflect on itself and the mechanisms that implement the media, but involves the viewer in an attempt to reconstruct the figure of Kane giving viewers all the songs necessary to solve the intricate puzzles, but is in fact to the user find the right composition. This desire of the director is also shown through stylistic choices such as the systematic use of depth of field through which the viewer is more empowered, it's up to him to choose the element on which to focus. In the case of the classic assembly, conversely, the audience is limited to follow the lead author, who decides what is necessary for him to see. Kane instead marks a new course in film history, changing not only the structures of the cinematic language, but also the relations between the viewer and the image. If the classic cinema offers a unique truth, a truth easy, so there is no need to bother, in modern cinema the spectator is exposed to a polysemic and incomplete, where everything has not already been established. The viewer is not confined to contemplate but it becomes an actor, affect the operation of the system, or at least is aware of the role you may have.
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