Orson Welles was a director ahead of his time. His portrayal of Kane shows his acting ability, but this film is not about acting. It is about a powerful man whose downfall creates a reaction unexpected to anyone. It is also about the mystery of one word. But what is it mostly about? Style. Citizen Kane uses camera, lighting, and set techniques to show Kane's rise and fall from power. This fact makes the camera almost one of the film's characters. The camera allows each of us in the audience to see the world as Kane would see it. This is accomplished by revealing much about the film's characters through their relationship with the camera. Does Kane fear his first wife Emily? Does he feel he is better than his second wife Susan? Is he happy with his grandiose palace, or does he feel trapped within its walls? All of these questions are answered almost wholly through his relationship with the camera. .
It is Welles' use of camera techniques that made Citizen Kane such a milestone in the development of cinema. He experimented with new techniques and in doing so forever changed the face of film. For example in the scene where he dines with his first wife Emily the camera angle is manipulated to show the breakdown of their relationship. At first they are a happy couple sitting close and shown together, but as time progresses they are shown further and further apart. The growing space between them on screen depicts perfectly the chasm that was developing in their relationship. Another example occurs much later as he watches his first wife Susan assemble a puzzle. They have moved from New York to Florida where Susan has begun to feel trapped. She complains about this fact to Kane who does not relent in his insistence that they stay at Xanadu. This occurs on two occasions. The first time the camera shows the couple on the same plane, Susan sits while Kane stands beside her. However by the second conversation Susan has moved to the ground and Kane looms over her.