of fences and, in a series of dissolves focused on a lit window in a distant tower, moves across the dark, spooky, deserted grounds of Kane's Xanadu estate. That window remains in the same place in the frame -- upper right-hand corner -- in each successive shot, including one that turns the image upside down: a reflection in a disused boating pond. As we approach the window, a light inside (and, soon, a life) is snuffed out. Another match-dissolve takes us almost imperceptibly from outside Kane's castle to inside his room, where... it is snowing. A house sits nestled in a soft, white landscape, but the camera pulls back rapidly and we see it's one of those little liquid globes with fake flakes inside. This wintry world held tight in the palm of his hand, Charles Foster Kane loosens his grip on life. The glass bubble bursts on the floor as his disembodied lips (in close-up) whisper: "Rosebud."
             Like that shining window in the distance, Rosebud becomes the elusive focal point for a newsreel reporter's investigation into the life a
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