"Rosebud."

This one word simultaneously ends the life of Charles Foster Kane and begins the movie hailed by many as the greatest film ever made. Citizen Kane, made by Orson Welles in 1941, topped the 1998 list of the 100 greatest American films ever made as chosen by the American Film Institute.

What is Rosebud?

Kane's last word sends News on the March reporter Thompson (William Alland) digging through the newspaper magnate's life to unearth the meaning of this enigmatic utterance, hopefully in the process discovering the real man behind the larger-than-life image.

During his search Thompson interviews various characters from Kane's life. Each gives his or her own slanted perspective on who the man really was, creating a jigsaw puzzle the reporter can never truly solve.

It's hard for today's viewers to realize just how revolutionary the film was in 1941. Looking back over film history it's apparent how much influence Welles' masterpiece has had. From its vanguard use of lighting and camera angles to the multi-layered storyline and use of episodic narrative, Citizen Kane proved that the limits of film are boundless.

Take for instance the scene early in the film right after the opening newsreel sequence. Against conventional standards, Welles staged the scene in an uncommonly dark room, filled with smoke. As a result, all of the characters' faces are obscured, making one almost indistinguishable from the other. This actually enabled Welles the opportunity to use actors who appear later in the film without the audience realizing.

Welles and co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz, who earned the film's only Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, put together an extremely detailed script featuring a complex web of flashbacks to illustrate the mystery of Kane's life. The script features many classic bits of dialogue and often-quoted lines such as Kane's sardonic quip: "You're right, I did lose a million dollars last year. I expect to lose a million dollars this year. I expect to lose a million dollars next year. You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have to close this place in ... 60 years." Or the wisdom of Bernstein, Kane's general manager: "Old age. It's the only disease, Mr. Thompson, that you don't look forward to being cured of."

The film finds great performances in all of its cast members, but particularly from a few standouts. Joseph Cotten, as Kane's best friend Jed Leland, gives a masterful performance -- oscillating between humor and outrage throughout many pivotal scenes. Dorothy Comingore also turns in an exceptionally tortured performance as Kane's second wife, Susan Alexander Kane. She transforms from a sweet, innocent "cross-section of the American public" to a bitter alcoholic. Above all, Welles' portrayal of the title role is amazing to behold. He's able to accurately play both a young idealist and a withering, fallen tycoon. Keep in mind, while watching him as a "70-year-old," that Welles was actually 24 years old!

There's such an abundance of praise that this film deserves, that it would be a foolish attempt to cram it all into one review. For anyone trying to build up his or her DVD collection, however, the recent re-release of Citizen Kane features, among other things, insightful commentaries by film critic Roger Ebert and Welles biographer Peter Bogdanovich. Also, there is a second disc with the set, which includes an Oscar-nominated documentary, The Battle over Citizen Kane.

For anyone who hasn't seen the film, this new edition is a great opportunity to weigh in one's own thoughts on what countless critics have deemed the greatest film of all time. As the 1941 tagline boasts, "It's Terrific!"