Film Analysis
Robbins
Due: 9/29/14
The Opera Montage
The montage begins with "KANE MARRIES 'SINGER'" appearing on screen in big, black letters, followed by Kane walking out of the wedding with Susan to the car, surrounded by a cloud of reporters. The fact that they put "singer" in quotes shows that most people would not consider Susan to be a singer, due to her lack of talent. Then, a reporter begins asking about Susan's career future, and Kane answers everything in "we", like "We're going to be a great opera star". The reporter asks if she will sing at the Metropolitan Opera House and Kane says they will, and if she doesn't, he'll build her an opera house, but he assures "That won't be necessary". The next shot is a newspaper with the headline "KANE BUILDS OPERA HOUSE". This is yet another example of Susan not being good enough to be an opera star.
The movie then cuts to the opening night of the opera, with the director screaming at Susan (who is playing the lead, of course) and the rest of the cast is running around with various props and costumes, as if unprepared for the show. As Susan begins to sing, the camera tracks upwards to show the workers on the catwalk, who are not pleased by her performance. Later, the scene is shown again, but this time we see the audience, who are equally displeased by the performance. Bernstein is dozing off, Jed is playing with his program, and the women in a booth near Kane are laughing and joking about how horrible she is.
The opera montage is an important scene for Kane, because after losing his first wife, and ruining his chance of getting elected, he wanted to convince himself that meeting Susan was worth it. Kane cheated on his wife with Susan, and if there was any chance of regaining his reputation, he would have to get it through Susan's success. He poured his money into making Susan the star she had always dreamed of, but Kane still could not win over the crowd. Susan was not a strong singer, and her director even told Kane this, but he didn't want to believe it. The last straw was when the show ended, and the applause was weak, Kane stood up and began clapping as hard as he could, until he was the only one left. Kane still couldn't win over the crowd. This was the first time Kane lost a battle, and it destroyed him.
Was Susan worth all the trouble that she caused?
Your point of view is very interesting. I never thought of Kane and Susan's relationship as a way for Kane to earn back his reputation. It makes perfect sense though, as Kane is a man who only wants to gain something for himself.
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question, I would say that Susan is not the one that caused all the trouble. Kane made all the trouble for himself. In his desperation to be loved, he made Susan do something she clearly did not and could not do. He builds the opera house, gets humiliated, and has Susan leave him all through his own work in trying to force her to become a star.
ReplyDeleteYour take on the last bit of the montage, the clapping scene, you worded that excellently. I think the idea that Kane's failures being realized in himself with his failure to make Susan a star (though it was an impossible task to begin with) is a really powerful one. Great insight on the whole montage!
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