Analyzing Narrative in Citizen Kane

In Citizen Kane, it is easy to see the difference between story and plot, since the movie is not told in chronological order.

Story = all the events of the narrative as they occur in chronological order from beginning to end, including not only those that we see and hear, but those that we infer.

Plot = the ordering and structuring of narrative events as they are presented in the film.

If we were to put Citizen Kane into chronological order, it would begin with Kane as a boy in Colorado. The film actually begins with his death.

One storyline is presented in chronological order--Thompson’s investigation into the meaning of Rosebud. But Kane’s life is told out of order. The plot of Citizen Kane is the structure of events in Thompson’s investigation and in Kane’s life as presented in the film.

All narrative films have a plot, even those presented in chronological order, such as The Wizard of Oz, Toy Story, or Avatar. The events in these films are presented in a particular order. The narratives are shaped to give us the feeling that they move forward, build to a climax, and resolve.

A conventional narrative has the shape of a pyramid.

How would you draw the shape of Citizen Kane’s narrative? Does it have a climax?

Segmentation of Citizen Kane

If you try to outline the plot of Citizen Kane, what parts come to mind? You probably first think of how the movie is narrated through a series of flashbacks.

The flashbacks:1. Thatcher’s notebooks2. Bernstein3. Jed Leland4. Susan Alexander Kane5. Raymond

Recall that the reporter interviews Susan first, though he doesn’t hear her story until the end. Thus, we have:1. Susan interview2. Thatcher’s notebooks/flashback3. Bernstein interview/flashback4. Jed Leland interview/flashback5. Susan Alexander interview/flashback6. Raymond interview/flashback

How does the movie begin and end? At the beginning, we approach Kane’s castle. At the end, in a parallel sequence, we retreat.

At the beginning, Kane utters the word “Rosebud.” At the end, we see “Rosebud.”

If we add all the parts that frame the flashbacks, we get the following outline.

1. Prologue: Kane’s death2. Newsreel3. Premise: Discover the mystery of Rosebud.4. Interview: Susan Alexander Kane5. Flashback: Walter P. Thatcher6. Flashback: Bernstein7. Flashback: Jed Leland8. Flashback: Susan Alexander Kane9. Flashback: Raymond, butler at Xanadu10. Coda: puzzle, revelation of Rosebud

What narrative patterns do you notice? What meaning is there in the way this story is told?

Each of the segments could be broken down further. Let’s take a closer look at Leland’s flashback.

1. Interview2. Breakfast montage (dissolution of 1st marriage)3. Interview4. Meeting Susan5. Campaign rally6. Confrontation with Gettys and Emily7. Affair exposed. Kane loses election.8. Scene with Leland in office9. Susan’s opera career (montage)10. Bad review11. Interview

What does this segmentation lead you to notice?

One thing you might notice is that, even though Leland narrates this section, he is not present in each of these scenes. He is not with Kane when he meets Susan or when he confronts Gettys. He is passed out when Kane finishes his review.

Citizen Kane does not restrict the information in this flashback to Leland’s point of view. (This is true of the other flashbacks as well.) Nevertheless, does this flashback reveal Leland’s view of Kane? Does it reveal anything about Leland?

Why do you think the first meeting of Kane and Susan is presented in Leland’s flashback and not in Susan’s?

A complete segmentation of Citizen Kane would be very complex, since it is comprised of so many parts that jump around in time and space.

Ed Sikov writes, “In film studies, it’s not so much a question of what happens in a movie as the way it happens, and this is certainly true as far as plot patterns are concerned. Filmmakers use narrative structure not only to tell stories but to raise issues and make arguments, sometimes explicitly, sometimes implicitly” (108).

What issues are raised by the way the plot of Citizen Kane unfolds?

You can segment any movie into sections, but most don’t have such clear divisions as Citizen Kane. Most movies create the effect of a continuous flow of story. How would you segment a movie with a conventional plot structure, such as Casablanca?

One way to segment a narrative is to look for its turning points. A turning point creates a new situation in the story, usually because a character makes a decision or takes an action, or because circumstances force a character to take up or alter a goal.

The first major turning point in Casablanca is the arrival of Ilsa and Laszlo, which creates a new situation for Rick. What other turning points are there?

We could also analyze Citizen Kane in this way. What are the major turning points in the movie? How do the turning points in his professional and political careers correspond to the turning points in his personal life?