Citizen Kane

Opens in cinemas nationwide on Friday 30 October 2009

Director: Orson Welles | Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorthy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead | USA 1941 | 119min | Cert: U

Rightly regarded as a groundbreaking masterpiece, Orson Welles's debut remains a monumental achievement, its imaginative scope amply repaying countless viewings.

Seldom seen on the big screen in recent years, Welles' witty, gripping film famously views the controversial life of the late Charles Foster Kane (Welles) – a media tycoon partly inspired by William Randolph Hearst – from the sometimes contradictory perspectives of his friends, employees and mistress. It's an extraordinary work, not just technically (Gregg Toland's cinematography, Bernard Herrmann's score, the editing, design and quietly bravura direction are all superb); but in its dramatic sophistication and thematic richness. An affecting meditation on memory, self-knowledge, solitude and mortality; a wry reflection on fame, fortune and the spirit of America; an exhilarating exploration of the artistic possibilities of the film medium - Citizen Kane is all this... and so very much more.

- Geoff Andrew

Opens Fri 30 Oct:
BFI Southbank
Filmhouse Edinburgh
Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
Glasgow Film Theatre

From Fri 13 Nov:
Irish Film Centre, Dublin

Sun 15 Nov:
Rex, Berkhamsted

From Fri 20 Nov:
Dundee Contemporary Arts

Wed 25 - Thu 26 Nov:
Exeter Picturehouse

From Fri 27 Nov:
Cambridge Arts Picturehouse
Penultimate Picture Palace Oxford

From Tue 1 Dec:
Phoenix, Leicester

From Fri 4 Dec:
Broadway Nottingham

From Mon 7 Dec
Phoenix Leicester

Wed 9 Dec:
Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

From Fri 11 Dec:
Queens Film Theatre, Belfast
Cornerhouse, Manchester