Another random symbol...

Citizen Kane is filled with symbols from start to finish.  Some are obvious, while others take careful viewing (noticing that a businessman looks like Vladimer Lenin and random things of this nature).  I think I noticed one such symbol in the "puzzle scene".  In one of the camera views you see Kane with Susan Alexander.  Susan is completing yet another jigsaw puzzle as Kane walks about admiring himself and generally basking in his power.  On the right side of the screen is a gigantic stone gargoul that appears to be a sort of hideous dragon-snake demon sort of monster.  This is just one of many statues that Kane keeps around Xanadu, but I think this one is of symbolic significance.  

          At first, I wondered why the gargoul was taking up half the screen or why it was even in the picture at all.  Then I realized that just like almost every other image in the movie it probably has some sort of symbolic meaning otherwise it wouldn't  be getting so much attention from the director.  I see it as it is a symbol of love or rather a loss of love.  Recall that this scene is focusing on the strained relationship and marriage of Susan and Kane.  The snake like head of the gargoul curves into the shape of half a heart.  This is clearly trying to show the lack of true love between these two married people.  The hideous nature of the gargoul is also clearly intended.  For instance the director didn't choose the neck of a swan to form half the heart because this wouldn't properly show the many problems that are part of marriages and love in general.  In doing so, the film again tries to portray the failures of all marriages and a general lack of faith in humanity as a whole.

A Little bit of A Letdown

I must say, that for as entertaining as Citizen Kane was, I felt that the ending wasn't really that strong.  For a man so interesting i thought that "rosebud" was referring to something more significant that a sled.  Of course, I understand the symbolic meaning behind his childhood sled, but what about somebody who wasn't watching this film for analytical purposes. They would be entertained throughout as I was, but I don't think a lot of people would understand the ending.  They would be thinking, "Thats it? A sled? Huh?". And this of course was probably intended by the director to be an ironic ending.  He was one of the most powerful men in America, and all he can think of on his deathbed is a childhood toy.  All I know is that if I wouldn't have left the movie theater thinking WOW!         Its a great movie with a bad last impression, which is unfortunate considering how groundbreaking it was at the time.  

German Soldiers with Universal Ideas

The fact that the soldiers are German does add to the film.  Since this film was viewed mainly by an American audience it was an interesting choice for the director to use Germans in WWI instead of Americans in either  WWI or WWII.  This shows that the director clearly had a reason for picking these particular men to tell his story through.  The German's were viewed as "the enemy" in both WWI and WWII for the Americans.  Therefore, you would think it would be hard for an American audience to sympathize with these men but it is quite the opposite.  The men, though German, are still human and have the universal characteristics that all humans share.  They are humorous, loving, hard-working, caring, and only wish to continue living.  Many of the Germans did not want this war more than anyone else as shown in the scene where the men are eating and discusing who they think wanted this awful war in the first place.  Paul says something along the lines of "Well I have never wanted to kill an Englishman before.  In fact I had never seen one until I came to the front."  This kind of outlook towards the war shows that the Germans were not just ruthless killing machines; they were humans with the same kind of ideas and feelings as the film's audience.

Rough times on the Western Front

It appears that all hope has been lost for the main characters of the film.  They have all died one by one in battle and now only one remains... My final guess for the meaning behind the doors and windows is that they show a sort of passage from one life to another a kind of reflection of ones life.  For instance, when Paul is being taken to the death room the nurse closes the door on him as if to say it is over for him.  Also, when Paul returns to his former school he is shown peering into the class through a window.  Ironically, this is the same window at the start of the movie that we watch the German War parade march by.  It contrasts Paul's original beliefs about war to the harsh reality.
  Another short "gem" scene to me is the one in which Paul takes out an old picture of himself and his friend (Albert?).  He covers the face of the two smiling men in the picture as if to show their loss of identity through the war.  They are now just two German uniforms.  It is one final scene that builds on the theme of "de-huminization".

Blogging trouble

My blog isn't allowing me to comment on anything on the website.  I have been unable to comment on  Mr. Bennett's blog or even my own posts.  There is a post comment button below his articles but it isn't linked to anything and I cant click on it.  Any of you tech savy people know what might be wrong?

All Quiet On the Western Front Initial Reaction

So far I have enjoyed the movie and learning about the numerous techniques directors use to portray the meaning of the film.  The scene where they first come under fire reveals a lot about the characters and how the movie will progress.  We see how each of the men reacts to their new environment.  The directors provide a bit of foreshadowing in this scene and we also get our first view of the madness and chaos of war.  The topic of "dehumanization" is constant throughout the film as the director shows the men referred to using numbers instead of names and corpses referred to as "it" not "who".  Still wondering what the symbolism behind the doors and windows is.  I fell that it is showing how the men are passing from one stage of war to another as the conditions worsen. I'll be watching to see if other scenes continue this trend....  

Testing

Hello Mr Bennett!