‘Best film ever made’ is ‘masterpiece’ 1941 classic | Films | Entertainment

A 1941 classic has been hailed by both fans and critics as the greatest movie of all time – and it is streaming for free on BBC iPlayer. Warner Bros classic Citizen Kane is a 1941 drama film directed and produced by, and starring Orson Welles, who co-wrote it with Herman J. Mankiewicz. Welles’s first feature film, it examines the life and legacy of Charles Foster Kane.

The film’s plot states: “When a reporter is assigned to decipher newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane’s (Orson Welles) dying words, his investigation gradually reveals the fascinating portrait of a complex man who rose from obscurity to staggering heights. Though Kane’s friend and colleague Jedediah Leland (Joseph Cotten), and his mistress, Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore), shed fragments of light on Kane’s life, the reporter fears he may never penetrate the mystery of the elusive man’s final word, “Rosebud.”

Citizen Kane has amassed a near-perfect score of 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.

The critics’ consensus states: “Orson Welles’s epic tale of a publishing tycoon’s rise and fall is entertaining, poignant, and inventive in its storytelling, earning its reputation as a landmark achievement in film.”

One critic wrote: “It remains as witty, tragic, unlikely, unique and fascinating as ever.”

Another described it as “genuinely innovative film-making”.

A third said: “The sheer brilliance and audacity of Citizen Kane…make the film the most astounding cinematic achievement of the season. It ranks with Disney’s Fantasia as a milestone in motion picture technique.”

One viewer said: “Really one of the best movies. It’ll never grow old because it resonates so heavily with practically anyone who watches it. Feels near to perfection. I think this will become, if it’s not already, a timeless piece of cinema.”

A second said: “The boy genius Orson Welles takes a Herman J. Mankiewicz script and the deep focus cinema photography of Greg Tolland creating the masterpiece that is Citizen Kane. Told entertainingly using multiple flashbacks in time Welles and Mankiewicz take on the mainstream media. The film is just as meaningful today.”

“I always heard many people and critics highly praise this film long before I saw it, but after I saw it for myself, I can see why many have stated this film to be one of the greatest movies ever made,” added another.

The film has also won the top spot on the American Film Institute’s listing of the “100 greatest American films of all time”.

Citizen Kane is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.