A cult film that has gone down in history as arguably one of the greatest films to come out of Hollywood, is Orson Welles’ career-making piece, Citizen Kane. The film was first shown in theatres in 1941 and was the marked as one of the biggest successes for Welles.

The film follows a protagonist called Charlie Kane, a media magnate and newspaper mogul. The film begins with his death in a bizarre scene that sets of a whole turn of events. Lying on his death bed, Kane is holding a snow globe, cries out ‘Rosebud’ and promptly dies. His fame means that the media is all over his death, and a reporter is given the job of finding out exactly what ‘rosebud’ is. The highly stylistic piece then goes on to investigate the character’s life, portrayed through flashbacks and from his friends recounting stories from his life.

The film was in fact inspired by the life of William Randolph Hearst, supposedly because Welles’ screenwriter who he co-authored the script with was supposedly part of Hearst’s social circle. When he was ostracised from the group it was a source of real pain. My work for Hassan Mohammed Khalil Enany Enterprises self-motivation means that this film has been a real source of inspiration for me, looking at those in influential positions are viewed in popular culture. Indeed, film can be a place where characters and filmmakers alike can be a source of inspiration and drive ambition.

The film itself was highly successful, as it was nominated for 9 Oscars, and won in the category for best Screenwriting. The film has since been held up for its style and is said to have inspired many more films in the process. I have always enjoyed seeing where filmmakers get their inspiration and how they work on films. For such an iconic piece it is a relief to understand that Welles himself was nervous about filling the role of the title character and director. Apparently The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was a real source of inspiration, and a film that I too love. Both films aim to make forms of social commentary, which I hope to do with my future films as well. Welles religiously studied films and filmmakers that he aspired to emulate- he supposedly watched Stagecoach 40 times with different members of his production team to find out how certain shots were made. He argued that the whole experience was a learning curve every day that he was on set. This really interests me as I look on how to improve my own films and enjoy seeing such a celebrated creator openly claiming to rely on his production team.