What is the movie Citizen Kane about?

At dawn, the silhouette of Sanado Manor, which is as majestic as a palace, stands on the top of a mountain on the beach in Florida.

The camera slowly approached the iron gate of the manor, and the top of the iron gate was inlaid with a huge letter "K". The camera passes through the iron gate, approaches the palace-style building, passes through the window, and approaches a dying white-haired old man on the couch. I saw his lips moving and mumbling the words "Rosebud"; He held a crystal ball paperweight in his hand, and there was a scene of a farmhouse in the snow in the center of the ball-suddenly, when his hand was released, the crystal ball fell to the ground and broke.

Charles Foster Kane, a newspaper magnate known as American Kublai Khan, died alone at the age of 76.

A set of news documentary pictures shows Kane's legendary life, and a black-framed picture of Kane occupies the whole screen. All kinds of newspapers reported the death of this powerful man on the front page. The commentary said: "In its heyday, the Kane Empire once controlled 37 newspapers, 13 magazines and a radio network. It is an empire in the empire. " News footage traces the origin of Kane's rise, and later founded the Inquirer, set foot in politics and became a man of the hour. He was married twice, divorced twice, once married the president's niece Emily, and rose to the top; Once I married Susan, a "female singer", which was a sensation. It was his affair with Susan that was exposed, which led to his political career in running for governor, and never recovered. After the Great Depression, the Kane Empire declined rapidly. In his later years, Kane lived in a secluded place in the Sannadu Manor until his death.

Jorston, the editor-in-chief of a magazine, was not satisfied with this hastily edited news film, so he entrusted a young reporter Thomson to make an in-depth investigation on Kane's life and asked him to find out the true meaning of Kane's last words "Rosebud" in order to reveal the true image of this "American Kublai Khan" as a human being.

The first object that Thomson visited was Kane's second wife Susan. She is now a singer in a cheap bar in Atlanta. Nearly 50 years old, she still wears heavy makeup, but flatly refuses to be interviewed. The expulsion order of "get out" may be hiding the pain of this famous singer's life.

In the Cecil Memorial Library in Philadelphia, Thomson was allowed to enter the archives to consult the unpublished manuscript of the memoirs of the late banker Cecil. 1870 that snowy winter, little Kane was only six years old. His mother runs a family-style boarding house. A few years ago, a tenant defaulted on his rent, so he used a property right contract of an abandoned mine as collateral. Unexpectedly, this abandoned mine was later proved to be very rich, and the Kane family immediately made a fortune. When Cecil signed the power of attorney with Kane's mother, little Kane was making a snowman and throwing snowballs in the snow outside the window. Kane's mother entrusted him and his property to Cecil to send him to the metropolis for education. Kane Jr. didn't understand what he wanted to be as an adult, "the richest man in America." He refused to leave his mother and this rural town, so he rammed Cecil with his sleigh. But he was finally taken away, leaving the children playing in the snow. After Kane acquired property rights as an adult, he took the initiative to buy the first newspaper and publish The Inquirer. He openly opposed Cecil, talked about maintaining social justice when he was in a mood, and pretended to protect the poor from exploitation by a big company (in which he had a huge stake). The conclusion written in Cecil's manuscript is that Kane is just a lucky rogue, a spoiled and irresponsible shameless person.

In the skyscraper of The Inquirer in new york, Thomson met Bernstein, the general manager who cooperated with Kane in running the newspaper. The Jewish old man recalled the first day Kane took over the newspaper in 1890. Kane is young and arrogant. He advocates not asking the truth, creating sensational news and competing with documentaries for readers. However, Kane wrote in his "Declaration of Principles" to the public: "I want to provide a daily newspaper to the residents of this city, which will faithfully report the news ... and no special interest groups are allowed to interfere in the authenticity of these news." Kane believed in pragmatism and was brave in innovation. He devoted himself to politics from running a newspaper. He also dragged the whole class of rival documentaries into his own newspaper, and even created public opinion to encourage the United States to get involved in the Spanish-American War of 1897. He also realized his marriage with the president's niece Emily with political ambition. As for the problem of "Rosebud", Bernstein couldn't decipher it, only that it might be a girl he loved or "something he lost". Finally, Bernstein suggested that Thomson go to Leland, Kane's college friend and later a drama columnist, and said that this person had first-hand information about Kane's private life.

In a hospital, Thomson finally found Leland in a wheelchair. Down and out Leland told him that Kane lived by power. He is a poor newspaper operator. "He entertains his readers, but he never tells them the truth." His marriage with the president's niece Emily is purely political, and its breakdown is inevitable; Later, I met the singer Susan, and fell in love at first sight, which led to the scandal of "A golden house hides a charming woman". When Kane ran for governor in politics, his political opponent Gatis defeated him with the scandal that "Kane's love nest and' singer' were caught". Kane built an opera house for Susan, but Susan's first performance with limited talent failed. Leland wrote an article and criticized it truthfully, saying that Susan was just "a beautiful, but inadequate, amateur". This critical article, which Leland was too drunk to write, was written by Kane. After the article was published, Leland was immediately fired by Kane, and their friendship broke down. Kane suffered setbacks in politics and love, and since then, he has lived in seclusion in a manor similar to the emperor's palace in Sana 'a.

Thomson visited Susan again, and Susan told him her inner pain. After the first defeat of the Chicago Grand Theatre, Susan swallowed sleeping pills in despair and vowed not to perform on stage after being rescued. In the luxurious manor built for her, Susan accompanied Kane all day, as if she were imprisoned in a cold grave. She often spends her time alone in the empty hall, warming herself by the fireplace and playing jigsaw puzzles. As the years passed, Susan couldn't bear it anymore and finally ran away in anger. Before leaving, she poured out her resentment to the tyrant Kane: "I'm tired of controlling my life according to your wishes." Kane was angered and gave her a heavy slap in the face. Susan walked through the locked door and resolutely left, and Kane's evening scene became more and more lonely and sad.

Finally, Thomson was interviewed by Ramon, Kane's old housekeeper, who described Kane's experiences in the last few years of his life. After Susan left, Kane furiously smashed all the furnishings in Susan's bedroom, except the crystal ball with the snow scene of the farmhouse. After Kane's death, all the precious things in the Sannadu manor were auctioned off, and the rest of the belongings were thrown into the fire and burned. When asked about the meaning of "Rosebud", the old housekeeper who worked hard with Kane all her life could only vaguely prevaricate that Kane was "somewhat insane" in his later years.

Thomson visited five people in turn and got five different stories, but he still couldn't solve the mystery of "Rosebud". Thomson concluded: "Kane got everything he wanted, and then he lost everything." Rosebud may be something he didn't get or lose. However, this does not mean anything. I don't believe that one or two sentences can explain a person's life. "

When Thomson and the reporters and photographers who came to rob the news of "Grand Auction of Monastery Palace" left one by one, they saw a sleigh marked with Rosebud was thrown into the fire, swallowed up by the flame, and the chimney emitted black smoke and stagnated in the sky.