 Citizen Kane certainly is an exquisite film (flawless and mesmerizing) and although Welles contributed to the film greatly, he didn't do it by himself. The depth of the film is also to the credit of cinematographer Gregg Toland and the original script idea is to the credit of Herman J Mankiewicz. Perhaps we should tip our hats to fate, luck, whatever that these three brilliant men were not only living at the same time, but brought together to create this masterpiece. Another thing that is the most interesting about Citizen Kane is that anyone who has viewed this film almost didn't. Welles was the real life Howard Roark (The Fountainhead): the personification of artistic integrity and genius. During and after the making of this film, he fought an uphill battle to finish and to screen it being that it was a obvious parody of William Randolph Hearst and therefore was labeled 'case-sensitive'. Hearst and those under his thumb tried to buy this picture just to destroy it. Lesser men would have caved under that kind of power! To me, Citizen Kane is not just a great film to the highest degree, nor is Welles just a genius director, but to be able to view this film is a reminder that there is a place in this world for youthful idealism and artistic integrity!