“Rosebud.” We all know this famous cinematic word all too well. Auteur Orson Welles’ consistently highly praised film, Citizen Kane, tops yet another list in a newly released book on cinema entitled “99 Remarkable Films of the World,” written by Rajan Zed.
The film, which follows the life of newspaper giant Charles Foster Kane (not so subtly based on William Randolph Hearst), was named the best film, putting Gene Kelly’s Singin’ in the Rain in second and the equally well-praised Casablanca in the number three spot. Steven Spielberg came out having directed the greatest number of films listed, with a total of five. Hollywood won out on the list, with the United States being the country that produced most of the films, reaching a grand total of 71. The oldest film listed was D.W. Griffith’s epic 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation at number 87, and the most recent film listed is the Coen brothers’ 1996 film Fargo at number 54.
We have to wonder whether Kane will ever be defeated.