Decades pass, tastes change, but no critics' best films ever list is complete without Orson Welles's Citizen Kane astride the top slot like a mighty colossus.
A flop at its 1941 opening, but since cited as pretty much the most outstanding directorial debut in cinema history, this visually groundbreaking biopic of fictional newspaper mogul Charles Foster Kane (played by Welles, pictured) may be iconic enough that its Rosebud scene was spoofed on The Simpsons - but confess: have you actually seen it?
Those wondering what all the fuss is about should catch the major retrospective of Welles's work at the NFT. It includes Citizen Kane (tomorrow,
6.20pm) alongside classics like dark comedy The Magnificent Ambersons and detective thriller Touch of Evil. There's a new print of Macbeth and a chance to see The Stranger - the only work which Welles disowned and his single box office success.
For Welles enthusiasts the NFT has tracked down the many abandoned or truncated projects which bedevilled Welles's career as well as documentaries on the man himself who has now, just like his alter-ego Kane, passed into the realm of legend.
Tomorrow until Oct 21, NFT, South Bank SE1, various times, £7.50, concs £5.70. Tel: 020 7928 3232. www.bfi.org.uk Tube: Waterloo
