Sometimes The Best Cure Is To Reach For The Good Stuff

No I don't mean that I have been drinking too much Barolo, though I think I probably have. No what I mean is that high art (and indeed low art but that is not my topic today) can raise you quickly out of the slough of despond.

I don't suffer my black dog days nearly so often these days but I am still taking the pills that have been so important a part of my taming of the illness. Just as you are always an alcoholic (I'm not, before you ask), so you are always a manic depressive. I try to be open about it, without boring the pants off people. My name is David R, and I'm a manic depressive. 

Anyway, I was having one of those black dogs last week and I reached for the good stuff to help bring me out of it. No, not the Barolo. Citizen Kane. I first saw this film as a teenager and my Dad told me that it might just be the greatest film ever made. This made me watch it with interest. Well, whether it is the greatest movie of all time is, of course, impossible to tell - there will always be candidates for that accolade that I haven't seen. But I'll tell you this for nothing - if you haven't seen Citizen Kane yet, you really must get on and do so. There's no excuse - it's available for free on iPlayer.

It is an oddity of personal taste that dictates that for a middling mind like mine, sometimes art of just below the top level is more amenable. It as though the very good stuff is too rich a mixture. Hence I like Titus Andronicus. Hence also, if presssed to nominate my favourite Orson Welles film, I would usually choose Touch of Evil over Kane. But ask me which is the greater artistic achievement and I would unhesitatingly point to Citizen Kane. Watch it, re-watch it. Treat yourself. 98/100.