Achieve nonlinear storytelling in a documentary - Multiple perspectives “Citizen Kane”

Citation: 

• Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., & Smith, J. (2020). Film art: An introduction (Twelfth, International student ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Annotation:

• In the third chapter of this book, the author examines how Citizen Kane employs multiple perspectives to achieve nonlinear storytelling.
• The text discusses Citizen Kane's innovative use of a Multi-Perspective Narrative technique. Initially, the film employs news reports and a journalist's investigation to review Kane's life (a single perspective), introducing the enigma of "Rosebud" to drive the plot. Subsequently, the film adopts a nonlinear narrative structure, using different characters' recollections (multiple perspectives) to transport the audience back to earlier scenes, revealing previously unseen events. This method of temporal regression provides a detailed depiction of the events' progression, offering a more complete portrayal of Kane.
• Although Citizen Kane is a fictional biographical film, the use of multiple narrators enables the audience to gain a more objective and comprehensive understanding of the events while maintaining the story's authenticity, thus preventing the film from appearing overly fictional.
• 在这本书的第三章，作者分析了《公民凯恩》如何通过多视角的运用来实现非线性的叙事。
• 文章提到，《公民凯恩》创新性地采用了拼图式的叙事手法。影片一开始通过新闻报道和记者的调查回顾凯恩的一生（单一视角），并引出“玫瑰花蕾”这一悬念，推动故事的发展。接着，影片通过非线性叙事，通过不同角色的回忆（多视角）将观众带回到之前的场景中，展现先前未曾看到的事件。这种通过时间线回溯到过去的方式，详尽地展示了事件的发展过程。让观众看到了一个更完整的凯恩形象。
• 尽管《公民凯恩》是一部虚构的传记电影，多重叙述者的描述使观众能够更客观地了解事情的全貌，同时保持故事的真实性，让观众不会觉得影片过于虚假。

Film Citation:

• Welles, O. (Director). (1941, May 1). Citizen Kane. RKO Radio Pictures.

         

Film Annotation:

• In "Citizen Kane," the story is told through the perspectives of various characters, including Kane's friends, colleagues, and ex-wife. Each character's memories and narratives provide distinct fragments of Kane's life.
• By interviewing significant figures from Kane's past, the film adopts a flashback and non-linear narrative style. The recollections of each interviewee form the primary narrative structure of the film. However, these memories are not arranged chronologically but are instead organized according to emotional and event significance.
• The film's timeline is non-linear, allowing the audience to piece together Kane's life through different characters' recollections. These memories alternate between key moments from Kane's childhood to his adulthood, enabling viewers to switch between different time points and creating a mosaic-like narrative structure. Through this approach, the audience can observe Kane's changes and growth across different periods of his life.
• 《公民凯恩》的故事通过多个不同角色的视角讲述，这些角色包括凯恩的朋友、同事、前妻等,每个人的回忆和叙述不仅提供了凯恩生活的不同片段。 
• 通过采访凯恩生前的重要人物，影片进入倒叙和插叙的模式。每个受访者的回忆构成了影片的主要叙事部分，但这些回忆并不按照时间顺序排列，而是根据情感和事件的重要性进行编排。
• 影片的时间线是非线性的，观众通过不同角色的回忆片段逐步拼凑出凯恩的一生。这些回忆从凯恩的童年到他成年的各个重要时刻交替出现，使观众在不同的时间点之间来回切换，形成了一个拼图式的叙事结构。通过这种方式，观众可以看到凯恩在不同时间段中的变化和成长。

Test In My Film：

                                   

• In my film, I draw upon the Multi-Perspective Narrative technique of Citizen Kane to achieve a non-linear documentary narrative. Unlike Citizen Kane, which utilizes the perspectives of multiple narrators for temporal transitions, my film employs the perspectives inside and outside of a diary to effect these transitions. Within the diary's perspective (subjective viewpoint), driven by past resentment towards my father, I recount our first meal together with bias, portraying him as uncommunicative and impatient. However, this depiction does not reflect the reality. When I close the diary, transitioning to the external perspective (objective viewpoint), the narrative returns to May 19. In this objective view, I present more of our conversation without personal emotional bias. This allows the audience to see a more comprehensive interaction between my father and me. Although my father has made mistakes, his concern for his child remains evident. Through this dual perspective, the audience gains a deeper understanding of my father's character and insights into my own psychological state.
• Regardless of whether the perspective is within or outside the diary, the diary serves as the protagonist's narrative, inherently containing subjectivity. While it is not feasible to reconstruct the story with multiple narrators and objective perspectives as in Citizen Kane, I strive to enhance the documentary's objectivity in the second flashback (non-linear narrative) by predominantly showcasing my father's dialogue and minimizing my own.
• 在我的影片中，我借鉴了《公民凯恩》的拼图式叙事手法，完成了纪录片的非线性叙事。与《公民凯恩》通过多位叙述者的视角进行时间转换不同，我的影片通过日记内外的视角来实现这一转换。在日记的视角（主观视角）中，由于对父亲过去的怨恨，我带着偏见讲述了第一次吃饭的情景，观众只能看到一个不愿沟通、缺乏耐心的父亲形象。但事实上，真实情况并非如此。当我合上日记的那一刻，即进入日记外的视角（客观视角），时间再次回到5月19日。在不带个人情绪的情况下，我展示了更多的谈话内容。这时，观众能更全面地看到我和父亲的聊天过程。虽然父亲曾做过不好的事情，但他心里对孩子的牵挂依然存在。通过这种视角的展现，观众不仅能更好地了解父亲的形象，同时也能洞察主人公（我）的心理状态。 
• 无论是日记内还是日记外，日记作为主人公的陈述，都是带有一定主观性的。虽然无法像《公民凯恩》中通过多个叙述者和多重客观视角还原故事，但在我的影片的第二段回忆（非线性叙事）中，我尽可能多地展现父亲的言语，尽量避免过多展示自己的话语，以保证纪录片的客观性。