another citizen kane post

"A man always seems the same size to himself, because he does not stand where we stand to look at him." 

- Roger Ebert

 I really like this scene. What's going on in this scene is Kane's newspaper company has finally come to an end, I believe it went bankrupt.  Kane's newspaper was something he's been doing since his youth, he's been doing it for so long it's probably the one thing he's invested time in. He doesn't bother with investing time with relationships, just his paper. Anyway, this scene is ridiculous because, as you watch it, Kane goes from the table, to the back wall, and then back again. You don't realize how far away, nor how large, the back wall actually is until Kane walks right next to it. Only then do you realize how big the room is. Robert Ebert believes that that movie of Orson Welles' is symbolism - showing that Kane is, in a sense, failing... or shrinking. His claim to fame, his newspaper, is gone. His claim to youth is gone. His first and true love is gone. Everything Kane had known is gone. This is a turning point in the movie, though it may be a bit confusing due to all of the flashbacks and flashforwards. Before this scene Kane was on top of the world. After this scene Kane's life is very sad and very lonely. You start to feel sorry for Kane after watching this scene.

Is this scene really symbolism? Orson Welles always denied that there was any sort of symbolism at all in Citizen Kane. Then again, I think he grew to hate the movie as he grew older... so I'm not really sure. Regardless, I like to look at it as symbolism.