Citizen Kane And The Social Network: Cinematic Analysis

In 1941, Orson Welles directed a movie that many now consider to be the best movie ever made. With eight wins and twelve other nominations, Citizen Kane stars Welles himself, playing newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane, who was based on the real-life William Randolph Hearst. The story immediately begins with Kane’s death, and his last word sparks a wave of curiosity among journalists, leaving them to investigate the meaning of the mysterious “Rosebud.” During the film, the audience learns that Kane, although wealthy, was not necessarily happy; he had lost love and respect numerous times throughout his life, and each of those events forced him into a deeper state of isolation. On the other hand, 2010 movie The Social Network, directed by David

During the course of the film, Citizen Kane included very dim lighting, sometimes to the point where only silhouettes could be seen. While the newspaper reporters review Kane’s life in the beginning of the movie, everybody’s face is engulfed in shadow, which emphasizes the isolation Kane felt consistently during his life. Kane, despite his wealth, never had a dependent source of love or support. Welles shows that Kane is completely and utterly alone with the darkness; even in his death, a room full of people want to invade his privacy purely for the press, not to mourn or offer respect. Additionally, Finch uses low-key lighting to reveal Zuckerberg's conflict at the start of the movie. Immediately, Zuckerberg and his girlfriend are in a bar with dim lighting, and the two of them begin to argue until she ends the relationship. This is just the first step of many as Zuckerberg becomes more and more isolated from his friends. Both Citizen Kane and The Social a Network applied low-key lighting to clarify that despite all the wealth or virtual friends, the two characters are alone, referencing the theme of