I was recently thinking about movies in which part of the story is told by voice-over and listing them to myself. I came up with Forrest Gump, A Clockwork Orange, Stand By Me, Raising Arizona, Shawshank Redemption, The Jerk (okay, maybe I’m reaching a little). Anyway, I realized these were all movies I had really enjoyed, so I thought I’d ask y’all to add to my list and let me know if you recommend any of them.
I do realize that narration doesn’t necessarily make a good movie…case in point, Joe Dirt.
You missed “A Christmas Story”.
I think “Mutiny on the Bounty” is narrated also.
The first third of Fight Club is mostly narration. And it rules.
Princess Bride and Johnny Dangerously are the 2 that sprung to mind.
(and Stand By Me also actually, but you already mentioned that).
Biloxi Blues.
Just thought of Interview with a Vampire.
The Name of the Rose.
The Road Warrior. (Has narration tags at beginning and end.)
The Man Who Would Be King.
Goodfellas
Babe the Gallant Pig
Blade Runner. Though good luck finding the right version.
Also, the Naked Gun movies are narrated in spots. (Drebin’s inner monologues never fail to crack me up.)
A River Runs Through It
and
Dances With Wolves
Dune
Out of Africa
Seabiscuit
Not only is Adaptation a great film with narration, but it also discusses this fact in the film and why it’s a bad idea and so on. The definitive film on why you should never, ever use it. So it uses it and it works!
The Usual Suspects used narration strongly, i.e., it pretty much IS a narrative, and American Beauty had narration too, IIRC. And to get to the stinky side of things, “Dune” had narration.
It’s interesting to read all the really good movies that have narration. One of the things they teach in film school is that narration is almost always bad. Don’t TELL the viewer what is happening, SHOW them what is happening. But this often limits you ability to convey what the characters think and feel about what they are doing, especially if there is some subtlety to what they are thinking and feeling. (Note that many of the movies listed as having narration are noted for their strong characterization.)
I think a lot of movies have been rurnt by lack of narration because of this film school meme. Frex, there’s a little known suspense movie called “Kiss the Girls Goodbye” (not the Morgan Freeman flick) that was about a psycho that kidnaps a woman and chains her up in his basement. She wears a gag while she’s his “guest” so she can’t talk. And there’s no narration by her to explain how she’s feeling. Since this constitutes a large chunk of the movie, it renders it very, very dull. A little character development via narration here would have made all the difference.
Several classics:
How Green Way My Valley (1941), narrated by the adult Huw (Irving Pichel).
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), narrated by Orson Welles.
Double Indemnity (1944), narrated hard-boiled style by the Fred MacMurray character into his Dictaphone machine.
I Remember Mama (1948), remembered by daughter Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes).
A Letter to Three Wives (1949), narrated by the troublemaking, never-seen author of the letters (Celeste Holm).
Sunset Boulevard (1950), narrated by the dead William Holden character.
Fletch and Fletch Lives are narrated.
Summer of '42
The Year My Voice Broke
(Note that several of the movies listed are “nostalgia” films. The lead character is narrating his past.)
(Speaking of which…)
Radio Days