CITIZEN KANE vs. THE GODFATHER

However, emotionally, THE GODFATHER has the edge.

In CITIZEN KANE, we learn, second hand, of the life of Charlie Kane, but since we never get to hear his story as a first person narrative, we can never really know Kane. We know what other people think about him, and sometimes we hear him speak of how he sees himself, but it is all a jumble that we have to put together, and in the end, the film itself admits that we probably can never fully know who this character is.

In THE GODFATHER, we spend day after day with all the main characters - Don Vito Corleone, his sons Michael, Sonny, Fredo and Tom. In KANE, we see Kane die before we even know who he is, so it is an emotionless experience. In THE GODFATHER, when characters die, we have known them for what seems like months. Privately, behind closed doors, all the characters talk to each other, saying things that they would never say in public, so we know them from the inside, rather than from the outside as we know Kane. Instead of presenting us a puzzle that we must put together ourselves, THE GODAFTHER displays everything before us, saying "This is who this family is, this is what happens to them, and this is why it is inevitable."

Technically, CITIZEN KANE is more impressive. Emotionally, THE GODFATHER wins. But since movies are essentially an emotional experience - if we are not moved, all the brilliant camera angles in the world don't mean a thing - THE GODFATHER wins, at least in my book, the title of Greatest American Film. Not that CITIZEN KANE is not moving, but THE GODFATHER is more so.

However, my suggestion - rent them both and decide for yourself.

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