The manner in which Susan Alexander is shot in this sequence is perhaps the most obvious indication as to how females are portrayed in this film. The majority of shots of Susan are medium or close-up shots; in fact almost all of the close-up shots in the entire film are of Susan. These close shots, especially when taken in moderate to high key lighting, give Susan an air of youthfulness, vulnerability and emphasize her meekness. Compared to Kane, who enters the scene in shadows and is almost always shot in the long-range, Susan comes across as being fragile, small and weak. As the camera cuts to a long shot taken from behind Kane’s left shoulder, Susan appears so small that the spectator must actually search the mise-en-scene for her. By choosing these particular camera shots and angles, Welles uses cinematic devices to portray women.
Mise-en-scene takes an important role in this sequence, as it strongly illustrates the powerlessness and irrelevance of Susan. In front of the vast empty fireplace completing her endless jigsaw puzzles, Susan kneels near the bottom of the frame, which symbolizes defencelessness and insignificance. To her right, there is a fire pump which is so large it dwarfs her, and behind to her left is a massive statue of a Roman goddess. This is ironic, since deities represent strength and authority, both of which Susan is completely lacking. The goddess takes on the dominant role of this shot instead of the living person, Susan. This particular use of mise-en-scene represents the inequality between men and women in the film.
Susan’s movements also play a major role in implying the submissiveness of women. Gentle, graceful hand movements as she places puzzle pieces, a slow turn of the head as she acknowledges Kane’s entrance, and delicately twitching her fingers as she begs Charles to go to New York; all of which indicate frailty and helplessness. These arched swaying movements are feminine and have no weight or authority behind them. In the second scene where she kneels in front of the fireplace, she barely moves at all except for placing the pieces, which suggests severe passivity. As Kane mentions the picnic, she objects with a weak fling of a puzzle piece on the floor. Susan’s overly feminine movements make her inferiority painfully obvious.
Through the use of inventive and imaginative perspectives, Orson Welles created a film that communicates many deep meanings. This sequence has profound implications about the role of females versus males, and the lower standard at which they are viewed. The inferiority of women is represented clearly by the use of certain cinematic devices, and is difficult to ignore.
