Why You Should Care About ‘Citizen Kane’
I have a friend who calls himself a movie buff. He will sling quotes from movies or dive into extended monologues about recent films he’s seen. He gets excited for new releases like a kid, and is always looking to compare Netflix queues. It makes for good conversation.
One time I mentioned that I re-watched Casablanca after many years and how I marveled at how many quotable lines were in the film. He returned my observation with a blank look.
How about Double Indemnity? Now there’s a screenplay that crackles with dialogue. He’d never heard of it.
Surely, North by Northwest. I first saw that movie as a kid watching late night TV. It came on, and I was too tired to change the channel. I’ll bet I’ve watched it three dozen times since.
Nope, my friend said, never seen it. Nor any other Alfred Hitchcock films I rattled off.
When I brought up Citizen Kane, he perked up. Finally, I struck gold. Almost. He’d heard of it. But, no, hadn’t seen that one, either.
Turns out my “movie buff” friend didn’t watch black and white movies. Or pretty much anything made before 1980. Maybe it was a religious thing. I never inquired.
There’s a lot of people who don’t watch “old” movies. I get it. Modern filmmaking is fast-paced, like life itself…
