Citizen Kane – a mystery drama about a newspaper magnate, whose last words prompted reporters from the paper he owned, the New York Inquirer to roll up the episodes of his life. They are seeking a hidden story, perhaps a concealed love or a horse Kane bet on to find something that sheds a new light to Charles Foster Kane’s private life.

Something tells me that from all those men we were sitting with in Palace Theatre today, no-one would argue that in a few days’ time everyone will talk about this movie either in an enthusiastic or an uncomprehending way, but definitely being entertained. Welles got into something that is in the minds of many: life of tycoons, media moguls, and the influence of news fascinate us and raise questions.

I call myself a lucky person. Lucky because I am in possession of all that background information without which I could not imagine why this picture is going to be such a great success not only among critics but also among ordinary viewers. Knowing that the cast consists of people who have never been captured by cameras before and recognizing never seen solutions, unexpected angles in cinematography makes me marvel at where the world of cinema is heading to. It is no coincidence that Orson Welles, director and leading role actor of Citizen Kane, is left behind in credits, his name appears together with cinematographer Gregg Toland, making it obvious to everyone that his professional contribution must receive equal recognition.

The structure of the storyline, which is driven through flashbacks, is tight, easy to follow, makes the viewer curious, however, it does not make up a whole, only almost – although during the final frames of the motion picture the last word of the dead magnate is explained, his life and the story itself leaves unanswered questions for the audience.

Kane, at the beginning of his career, decides to serve the public good in his publishing work, but later it turns into thirst for power over competitors but also over people who surround him, even his closest friends and his love. Success comes to him smoothly: he is quite a figure that is suitable for a social and hierarchical position like that he gets into. Still, there are barriers, which even he should not and cannot cross without losing something. The main turning point of the plot is when the already married Kane meets Susan Alexander, a young, amateur opera-singer. Kane’s tired marriage with the niece of the president comes to an end when he decides to rather protect his new amour, does not matter if it becomes widespread among the public. Personally – for Kane – it may seem as a morally right decision to face the truth and to stand for it despite all consequences, however, this leads him to lose the opportunity of being governor of New York, and from then on, Kane starts losing everything. After marrying the “singer” – as the newspapers keep describing Susan pejoratively – the viewers are not presented with any signs of a pleasant marriage, there is only Kane’s overwhelming will everywhere.

The picture keeps returning to the puzzle of the mysterious dying word of Charles Foster Kane: Rosebud. At the very end, the riddle gets solved: Rosebud refers to a sled from his childhood. But did it really provide us with an answer?

We cannot separate Kane’s life and career from his boyhood and his young adult years, these periods are not only the preparations for his later life. The value of a sled to a child is incomparable with the value of a media empire to a tycoon. These stages of life do not overwrite each other: childhood is a separate, whole world, and the importance of this world for the richest man is the same as all the wealth he acquired throughout his whole life.