A00137 - The Greatest Movie of All Time: Citizen Kane, Yes, But Maybe Also Tokyo Story


I watched Tokyo Story this morning on HBO Max

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Story

and I found it to be devastating.  This is a very profound  movie chronicling the generational divide that was creeping into Japanese culture after World War II but which also seems to creep into modern cultures that undergo some form of societal trauma.  I highly recommend Tokyo Story and based on where I am right now I am rating Citizen Kane and Tokyo Story as a tie.  Accordingly, my list of the 100 Greatest Movies now reads as follows:

1. Citizen Kane and Tokyo Store (tie)
3. Vertigo
4. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Qual du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Next up is In the Mood for Love.  It can be found on HBO Max as well. You are all welcome to share the experience.  You just might enjoy the journey.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins
Fairfield, California
March 26, 2023


-----Original Message-----
From: skipjen2865@aol.com
To: 
Sent: Wed, Mar 22, 2023 7:28 am
Subject: The Greatest Movie of All Time: Citizen Kane? Yes, Citizen Kane!



I am continuing with my process of watching the !00 Greatest Movies of All Time.

Two weekends ago, I watched Vertigo


Vertigo is certainly an interesting movie ... a psychological thriller ... and Alfred Hitchcock was certainly at the top of his game. Additionally, it was great to see San Francisco back in the day when the streets were clean and unhabited by tents.  Nevertheless, in my assessment neither Vertigo nor Jeanne Dielman are better than the movie I watched last weekend ... Citizen Kane 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_Kane

I have come to the conclusion that a century from now Citizen Kane will again be recognized as the greatest movie of all time.  First of all, from a personal perspective, I consider Citizen Kane to be the greatest of all time partly because the screenplay was written by Herman Mankiewicz while he was confined in a very familiar desert ranch abode in my hometown of Victorville, California. An Oscar nominated film about the time that Mankiewicz spent in Victorville writing Citizen Kane is the 2020 film entitled Mank.    


In a strange twist of fate Mank would win two Oscars while Citizen Kane only won one.  But the one that it did win went to Mank -- Herman Mankiewicz -- along with Orson Welles for the screenplay.  You can read about Herman Mankiewicz at


and you can read more about the extraordinary Mankiewicz clan at 


This too adds to the greatness of the legacy of Citizen Kane.  But it does not end there, two other notable films were made about the making of Citizen Kane.  One was a documentary titled The Battle Over Citizen Kane


The Battle Over Citizen Kane was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.  And the other was RKO 281


RKO 281 won the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries of Television Film

All of these factors, along with content of the movie and environment in which it was made, in my assessment make Citizen Kane the greatest film of all time.  Accordingly, based on my own amateur assessment the top three movies I have seen this year, my ratings are 

1. Citizen Kane
2. Vertigo 
3. Jeanne Dielman, 23 Qual du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Next week is Tokyo Story, I shall see how the list changes and grows.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

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