In a message dated 98-04-13 00:54:17 EDT, you write: << Funny, you'd be really amazed at the people in my film class--we saw it at the beginning of the semester, and the general impression was that it wasn't nearly as impressive as other masterpieces like, say, Chinatown or The Conformist. hmmmm.... Unfortunately (I guess like the unappreciative college kid I am) I'd have to agree with the people who thought that "rosebud, rosebud" was pretty anticlimactic. >> I think the thing about Kane is that you have to put it in perspective. it blew open the doors of filmmaking. It's like hearing a Ben Webster record after having grown up with Coltrane, it's not really that impressive. Or listening to Jimmie Rodgers having heard Geroge Jones, or Oasis having grown up with the Beatles. Kane was incredibly groundbreaking technically, and for it's time quite adventurous. Of course, your reaction to a work of art can't be "wrong" , but perspective can be helpful in understanding a piece. I do believe that there is a bit of cultishness surrounding Welles, but the same has been said about our beloved Jerry Salinger. Best of luck. Robert