I always loved the narrated opening of Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring. Kate Blanchett as Galadriel telling the history of the ring setting the backstory of the world and allowing us to easily follow what happens throughout the trilogy. It is simple, effective and epic all at the same time.
My favorite part of that is that it engages on a sensory level before it explains the backstory. Plus, in the extended edition, it's followed by the far less serious narration about the Shire from Bilbo.
I was expecting this one to at least be mentioned in the video. She starts speaking in elvish, then changes to English, while the map close in and we see the making of the ring and the wars. Perfect way to communicate that we are being transported to a Fantasy world.
Also, the beginning of Gettysburg, which lasts just long enough to bring viewers to Jul 1st, 1863. I wish Dunkirk had a similar one or two minute intro.
I’m a huge fan of Kevin Spacey’s narration in The Usual Suspects. Listening to him weave this whole world only to pull the rug out on it is amazing and something many actors couldn’t pull off through voice alone.
@@mikhail5428It’s a common struggle, isn’t it? We can’t vet every artist we enjoy and yet we feel wrong enjoying the art of people we find out have done terrible things. I’ve moved past it with some, but others I just can’t. I don’t judge others if they enjoy a piece of art created by a terrible person. But I also understand those who choose to turn away.
@@BeeWhistler *It kinda happens to me with Will Smith, but I still enjoy his movies, even tho I see him as an assh0le now, Jada is a complete ah, but again I saw her movies an always laugh at it*
@@NaijaCINE *Their personal life has nothing to do with their art, it's 2 sides from the same coin yes, but with real artists one doesn't affect the other*
I absolutely adore Don Hertzfeldt's narration in It's Such a Beautiful Day. An incredible trip through the mind of a man dying of a brain tumour that I have never seen replicated.
The narations in Wong Kar Wai’s works are great also and deserve at least an honorable mention. My favorite one is from Fallen Angels, which perfectly takes up a poetic quality that is unique only to his movies.
The original "Conan the Barbarian" deserves a mention. The film relied heavily on narration combined with music and minimal, but memorable dialog which really makes it stand out from other action/adventure/fantasy films including it's own sequel. Also, Gonzo/Charles Dickens in "The Muppet Christmas Carol" is a good example of an omniscient narrator who's also a character.
I know its briefly mentioned here, but Ray Liotta's specific narration of Goodfellas......specifically where he stands up on the witness stand at the end and breaks the fourth wall talking about how "how it didn't matter, it didn't mean anything. When i was broke I would go out and rob some more"..........such a brilliant moment
Incredibly, that narration wasn't the original and was written almost a year after principal photography. Most filmies know Coppola cast Keitel, and Keitel turned out to be too strong as Willard (Coppola wanted him more of an onlooker to events). Then they cast Sheen, and he didn't have the killer edge the character needed. So Coppola grabbed Michael Herr in 1978 and spent a year writing new narration in the style of Herr's book 'Dispatches' and that new narration is what 'punched up' Sheen's Willard to the level Coppola wanted.
I begin to tear up, even with mentions of movies I've not seen, by the way you convey with just narration, ones love for art and cinema. Thank you for this list
I'm glad Stranger Than Fiction is referenced here. That is one of my favorites, and the narration is a big part of it. Critiquing the authorial voice is worth mentioning specifically.
Woody Allen actually used the technique in Mighty Aphrodite. His Greek Chorus, included a couple of known actors, threw in a joke or two when shown in their gowns
@@batgurrl that's a great one too. Heck, even the rooster from Disney's Robin Hood is good. Some lesser known ones I enjoyed were Evil Roy Slade and Dead & Breakfast.
There's something to be said for the narration in the Perks of Being a Wallflower capturing the whole feeling of the film whilst intentionally being addressed to someone who is only observing it. On a separate and more hilarious note, and almost in its own category, the choir singing "holy sh*tb*lls it's the juggernaut" in the Deadpool 2 juggernaut fight scene was just fantastic
Although it did nothing new or special, Danny Devitos Narration in the original Matilda movie has always been so memorable to me, the juxtaposition between the kind soft narrator and the awful father, as a child I never realised they were played by the same person 😅
I'm so happy to get another Top 10 list from y'all I almost don't care what you put on it. But, as usual, interesting and engaging. So...I'm going to say relieved to have you back.
My favourite, especially given where it occurs in the film, is “Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and a woman, and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman”.
@@StoicTheGeek Absolutely! Double Indemnity has one of the best opening sequences of all time. A reckless driver, a bullet wound, and a murder confession. Hook, line, and sinker in a matter of minutes!
such a great list as always but as others have commented was really hoping It’s Such A Beautiful Day was given a spot or at leas mentioned. one of the best uses of narration ever imo
I appreciate starting with that clip from Adaptation. Actually this is a great list. Back in the day, someone jokingly, but truthfully called Morgan Freeman ‘The Narrator’ because during the Shawshank era he narrated MANY😊 And yes, The Dude abides.
I love how the narration in Adaptation drops off the moment Bobby McKee trashes the technique. It only returns at the very end of the film and even then, it brings up McKee.
@@erakfishfishfish 👍oh yeah. Such an underrated film. Not a huge fan of Nick Cage, in general, unless he is ‘over the top’, which he is here😉Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonzé are a brilliant duo. Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper (i denounce fish) were also superb.
@@erakfishfishfish I honestly don't know how Adaptation didn't make the list. As the film proceeds, you can feel how the voiceover is basically creating the movie in real time. It's certainly the best use of narration that I've ever seen in film.
The book, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses’, notes ‘When it comes to sound, we try to identify a point of origin, a source. In addition, we tend to regard sound as a force or special carrier of authority, a fact on which Michel Chion bases his theory of the ‘acousmetres’, i.e. of the bodiless voice in cinema that apparently has no origin, yet is powerful and ubiquitous. Chion coined this word by combining ‘acousmatic’, an archaic term describing something that one hears but whose origin is invisible, 16 and etre, the French verb ‘to be’. With this compound word, Chion underlines the active force of sound which possesses the power to attack, invade or manipulate, rather than just being a transitory aural whiff carried by the wind. The place and origin of these ‘vocal characters’ lie neither within film nor outside it: ‘The acousmetre is this acousmatic character whose relationship to the screen involves a special kind of ambiguity and oscillation [ ... J. We may define it as neither inside nor outside the image. The acousmetre can see everything, know everything and have an impact on everything, and it is also ubiquitous. Examples of acousmetre are the wizard in THE WIZARD OF Oz (US, 1 939, Victor Fleming), the voice of the mother in PSYCHO (US, 1 960, Alfred Hitchcock), Hal, the computer in 200 1 : A SPACE ODYSSEY (GB/US, 1 968, Stanley Kubrick), or Mabuse in DAS TESTAMENT DES DR. MABUSE (G E, 1 933, Fritz Lang) . In all four films, the power of these uncanny voices must be exposed and broken within the diegetic worlds, ‘de-acousmatized’ as Chion calls it, in order to neutralize the threat they pose to the (symbolic) order (of classical narration)’. On those principles I’d like to draw some emphasis to ways that you can deploy voiceover as a convention in your work. Colloquially, voiceover in a story can be divisive due to being quite common but it’s wonderful if used well. Perhaps the most common use of voiceover in modern film is by a narrator, often the main character, to add additional context to a film. ‘Stand by Me’ is one example of this usage. Unless you can specifically justify a character directing voiceover at the audience, I’d recommend having them address their voiceover to a specific character in the story lest you be accused of lazy exposition. ‘Stand by Me’ justifies voiceover directed at the audience because the main character is revealed to be writing a novel. One way to deploy voice-over directed at a specific character is through an exchange of letters. The anime/manga franchise, ‘Dear Brother’, and various adaptations of ‘Daddy Long Legs’ both take this approach. The ‘Berserk’ episode, ‘Confession’ simply lets the audience into Casca’s mind to hear her voiceover directed at Guts as the two make love. The ending of the ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica’ episode, ‘I Won’t Rely on Anyone Anymore’ does something similar in letting the audience into Homura’s voiceover directed at Madoka. ‘Sans Soleil’ is a documentary that frames itself through an imaginary exchange of letters via voiceover. ‘Fata Morgana’ constructs an imaginary narrative via voiceover atop B-roll of the Sahara and Sahel deserts. The ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ episode, ‘Weaving a Story’, begins with voiceover from the main characters’ classmates voicing their feelings about them atop footage of things that have happened thus far in the story. ‘Princess Tutu’ sometimes uses voiceover from Drosselmeyer to convey his ability to watch any area of the story world. ‘Her’ plays with voiceover in a similar way to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in how it explores the qualities of sentient sound.
Leaving Spike Lee out completely is crazy to me. That’s what makes Spike Lee great in my opinion, the use of narration as a way to pull out of the movie to tell the audience that he’s never making fictional worlds, everything he does exists within reality ad that racism doesn’t go away once the credits roll and you stand up to go home, even if it’s not a real person that he’s working with.
Kate Blanchett as Galadriel telling the history of the ring setting the backstory of the world and allowing us to easily follow what happens throughout the trilogy. It is simple, effective and epic all at the same time.
I hoped a shoutout for the amazing lightning speed narration of "It's such a beautiful day", with Hertzfeldt himself going from hilariously detached to, in-extremis, empathic and emotional. It was a stroke of genius in a movie full of strokes of genius.
Here's a mini-category - the disconnected narrator. You've got arty films where somewhat related poetry is read over events, like some of the Tarkovsky films, but you've also got the inner musings of Matt Damon's character in Informant!. It's just sort of stream-of-consciousness--the character is so dishonest and disassociated from his own life experience he just fills his mind with thoughts on penguins and the like. It's one of my favorite uses of voice over because he reveals nothing by it, which is the whole point.
One movie I think fits the “narration is everything” category would be hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. It provides insight, perspective, context, and a whoooole lot of dry humor.
I was just about to comment you didn't mention stranger than fiction and you got it in at the very end. While not an all time comedy, narration is the entire premise and I do remember finding it funny back when it came out.
Was really expecting It’s Such a Beautiful Day for the #1 spot. Also, if I had to pick an all time favorite narration it would have to be Apocalypse Now. Great list as usual.
Always enjoyed the minstrel narration of Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye in Cat Balou. Of course, anything Nat sang was great. What a voice. Not sure how many movies have musical narration.
I feel like the "original" cinematic narration could have been a lovely focus: The Silent Era! Narration intertitles cutting between shots has been done so well in films of the era. It would be nice to see what might have made your list!
Love this channel and love the list. You have so many movies labeled with the wrong year. Noticed it with American Psycho first, then Taxi Driver and a few others.
Not a movie, but my favorite TV show of all time "Burn Notice" uses narration incredibly effectively. Whether it's Michael Westen describing the challenges of being a spy or actually describing spycraft, it's genius.
The "I'm ready for my close-up" line from Sunset Boulevard has been misquoted for years. I suggest a video about misquoted movie lines and why people get them wrong. If you've done that already, let me know and I'll give it a watch.
I am so surprised that To Kill a Mockingbird did not make the list. It is a stunning example of excellent narration as well as the quintessential classic in film and literature.
That's what I was looking for. Its certainly one of the most memorable. Connie Nielson tried to mimic that in the intro to Basic and it worked really well.
'Ten Canoes' a low budget Australian production. Absolutely witty, and a great introduction to Aboriginal storytelling. A narrator telling a story about an ancestor telling a story. Well worth watching!
To me a great example of the narration as the substance of the film is the mexican film La Fórmula Secreta, it's such a joy to ser the conjuction of images and the poems of Juan Rulfo giving meaning to the things on screen
David Hyde Pierce narrating a nature documentary about humans dating from the point of view of an alien (and getting things wrong) in Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human has to be one of the funniest uses of narration.
I don't think anything will top the narration in the Hunter x Hunter anime during the Chimera Ant arc. I know it isn't a movie, but my god, the narration was unbelievably good.
Fight club is a great novel, which I never thought could be adapted to the screen. However, Fincher did a wonderful job, in no small part to Pitt, Bonham-carter and Norton who all delivered great performances. I watch it repeatedly and have even used it to show my kids what a good movie is (along with Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now).
A great example of diary narration not mentioned in the video is Heavenly Creatures. The narration is taken word-for-word from the real Pauline Parker’s diary which makes it really chilling when she so callously plans her mother’s murder.
Goodfellas is unique not only because it has a married couple narrating it, but because of the way Karen joins the narration as soon as she joins the story. Their first two dates go horribly but the fact that she's narrating by that point tells us they're meant to be. It's used to a lesser effect with Pesci and DeNiro in Casino but still great. Not the biggest fan of the one interruption from Ralph Finne's character in The Wolf of Wall Street, but I like that picture. And of course Taxi Driver, the voice I hear in my head when I read Punisher comics.
My personal favorite narrations are from Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” and “House that Jack Built” (I lump these two together because I’ve always felt they’re the same film with near-opposite intentions). I just really enjoy that style of two characters going through the story together and analyzing the the events piece by piece in sort of pretentious yet interesting ways. It feels like Von Trier making fun of both himself and his audience. And in both films the stories always circle back around to the moment the conversation begins in a really fun and beautiful way.
I'm convinced that Sam Elliot's character in The Big Lebowski is the tumbleweed from the beginning of the movie in human form, stopping for a drink before tumbling on his way. If you watch the opening scene with that in mind, it really feels like it's the tumbleweed that's narrating as it arrives in Los Angeles. When he stands up from the bar he starts to walk to the left but instead goes to the right, like he's just going where the wind blows him.
Kinda sad A Christmas Story didnt even get an honorable mention. Jean Shepard's narration is what makes the film so intoxicating in my personal opinion.
Inherent Vice did brilliantly just by subverting the casting of it's narrator. To hear that story in the candy sweet crackle of Joanna Newsom, that's something else all together.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
The shawshank redemption has one of the most soothing narrations. Morgan Freeman is genius
I was very surprised it didn't get a mention
The final 15 minutes of that movie get me every time, fully due to Morgan Freeman's narration.
Yes, the best narrated movie ever made, this list is garbage
@@yhctowerIt did get a mention. Morgan Freeman was shown on screen and the name of the film was listed underneath him.
@@denisesudell2538 I meant as one of the featured movies on the list
I always loved the narrated opening of Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring.
Kate Blanchett as Galadriel telling the history of the ring setting the backstory of the world and allowing us to easily follow what happens throughout the trilogy. It is simple, effective and epic all at the same time.
Gotta say it but it's Cate, not Kate 👍
My favorite part of that is that it engages on a sensory level before it explains the backstory. Plus, in the extended edition, it's followed by the far less serious narration about the Shire from Bilbo.
I was expecting this one to at least be mentioned in the video.
She starts speaking in elvish, then changes to English, while the map close in and we see the making of the ring and the wars.
Perfect way to communicate that we are being transported to a Fantasy world.
Precisely.
Also, the beginning of Gettysburg, which lasts just long enough to bring viewers to Jul 1st, 1863. I wish Dunkirk had a similar one or two minute intro.
I’m a huge fan of Kevin Spacey’s narration in The Usual Suspects. Listening to him weave this whole world only to pull the rug out on it is amazing and something many actors couldn’t pull off through voice alone.
*Even tho of all his bad behavior, we can't forgot he's a magnificent actor, he may be a complete assh0le but you can't take what he did*
@@mikhail5428It’s a common struggle, isn’t it? We can’t vet every artist we enjoy and yet we feel wrong enjoying the art of people we find out have done terrible things. I’ve moved past it with some, but others I just can’t. I don’t judge others if they enjoy a piece of art created by a terrible person. But I also understand those who choose to turn away.
@@BeeWhistler *It kinda happens to me with Will Smith, but I still enjoy his movies, even tho I see him as an assh0le now, Jada is a complete ah, but again I saw her movies an always laugh at it*
@@mikhail5428you can bring up and actors work without mentioning their life.
@@NaijaCINE *Their personal life has nothing to do with their art, it's 2 sides from the same coin yes, but with real artists one doesn't affect the other*
"It's Such a Beautiful Day" is a great mix of many of these categories. Definitely deserved at least a mention imo.
Yeah, I was surprised it didn’t get a brief clip.
This is why I come to cinefix. Good list as always. You can’t please everybody who want to see their favorites, but this was good.
I absolutely adore Don Hertzfeldt's narration in It's Such a Beautiful Day. An incredible trip through the mind of a man dying of a brain tumour that I have never seen replicated.
The narations in Wong Kar Wai’s works are great also and deserve at least an honorable mention. My favorite one is from Fallen Angels, which perfectly takes up a poetic quality that is unique only to his movies.
The original "Conan the Barbarian" deserves a mention. The film relied heavily on narration combined with music and minimal, but memorable dialog which really makes it stand out from other action/adventure/fantasy films including it's own sequel.
Also, Gonzo/Charles Dickens in "The Muppet Christmas Carol" is a good example of an omniscient narrator who's also a character.
I know its briefly mentioned here, but Ray Liotta's specific narration of Goodfellas......specifically where he stands up on the witness stand at the end and breaks the fourth wall talking about how "how it didn't matter, it didn't mean anything. When i was broke I would go out and rob some more"..........such a brilliant moment
Martin Sheen's narration in Apocalypse Now is the backbone of the movie, with quotable material. It's one of my favorites along with Shawshank.
Never get off the boat... unless you're going all the way.
Incredibly, that narration wasn't the original and was written almost a year after principal photography.
Most filmies know Coppola cast Keitel, and Keitel turned out to be too strong as Willard (Coppola wanted him more of an onlooker to events). Then they cast Sheen, and he didn't have the killer edge the character needed.
So Coppola grabbed Michael Herr in 1978 and spent a year writing new narration in the style of Herr's book 'Dispatches' and that new narration is what 'punched up' Sheen's Willard to the level Coppola wanted.
I begin to tear up, even with mentions of movies I've not seen, by the way you convey with just narration, ones love for art and cinema. Thank you for this list
Yes! I did with his argument for “La Noir De”
I've been waiting literal years for the big lebowski to get a spot on one of your lists. This did a lot for me, cheers
For me, it's the Cohens achieving perfection
Gotta give a shoutout to The Emperor's New Groove. It has without a doubt my favorite comedic narration in a movie
I'm glad Stranger Than Fiction is referenced here. That is one of my favorites, and the narration is a big part of it. Critiquing the authorial voice is worth mentioning specifically.
I cannot imagine opening youtube and not watching another amazing top10 from Cinefix. Since years, this videos became a celebration of cinema.
I was hoping for a "Greek Chorus" catagory: Hercules, Little Shop of Horrors, There's Something About Mary, and especially Cat Ballou.
Woody Allen actually used the technique in Mighty Aphrodite. His Greek Chorus, included a couple of known actors, threw in a joke or two when shown in their gowns
@@batgurrl that's a great one too. Heck, even the rooster from Disney's Robin Hood is good. Some lesser known ones I enjoyed were Evil Roy Slade and Dead & Breakfast.
@@jessedeal1470 sorry, don’t know any of that😉
And the Mariachi Owls in "Rango".
Great idea for a follow up!
I've always loved the narration in Juno, it brings you a tiny bit closer to a character who is often afraid to be emotionally vulnerable
I'm so happy Top 10's came back. Thank you guys!
Ah another good old Cinefix list out. Can't say how happy I am seeing this
There's something to be said for the narration in the Perks of Being a Wallflower capturing the whole feeling of the film whilst intentionally being addressed to someone who is only observing it.
On a separate and more hilarious note, and almost in its own category, the choir singing "holy sh*tb*lls it's the juggernaut" in the Deadpool 2 juggernaut fight scene was just fantastic
Thanks for focusing on Blue... an important part of history for some of us...
Although it did nothing new or special, Danny Devitos Narration in the original Matilda movie has always been so memorable to me, the juxtaposition between the kind soft narrator and the awful father, as a child I never realised they were played by the same person 😅
One of my fav lines in a movie ever is narrated by Leonard in Memento: "How am i supposed to heal if i can't feel time?"
I'm so happy to get another Top 10 list from y'all I almost don't care what you put on it. But, as usual, interesting and engaging. So...I'm going to say relieved to have you back.
I am sad to learn Forest Gump didn’t get a mention, that said I absolutely adore the thought effort and soul put into these lists
Definitely 😊
The parts of narration in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my absolute favorites.
Double Indemnity should have been the noir pick solely for the line "Who knew that murder could sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"
My favourite, especially given where it occurs in the film, is “Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money and a woman, and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman”.
@@StoicTheGeek Absolutely! Double Indemnity has one of the best opening sequences of all time. A reckless driver, a bullet wound, and a murder confession. Hook, line, and sinker in a matter of minutes!
I think a documentary category should have been included here. I’m actually quite confused there isn’t one.
Clint is one of my favorite Narrators on RUclips
Love Cinefix
Thanks a lot, another cinefix video that introduces me to 15 more movies I need to see
such a great list as always but as others have commented was really hoping It’s Such A Beautiful Day was given a spot or at leas mentioned. one of the best uses of narration ever imo
Why are these videos not getting more views this is what Cinefix is for me and many of us. We love this series.
Wings of Desire is the best. I wish it got more than a quick mention. I love that movie.
I appreciate starting with that clip from Adaptation. Actually this is a great list. Back in the day, someone jokingly, but truthfully called Morgan Freeman ‘The Narrator’ because during the Shawshank era he narrated MANY😊 And yes, The Dude abides.
I love how the narration in Adaptation drops off the moment Bobby McKee trashes the technique. It only returns at the very end of the film and even then, it brings up McKee.
@@erakfishfishfish 👍oh yeah. Such an underrated film. Not a huge fan of Nick Cage, in general, unless he is ‘over the top’, which he is here😉Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonzé are a brilliant duo. Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper (i denounce fish) were also superb.
@@erakfishfishfish I honestly don't know how Adaptation didn't make the list. As the film proceeds, you can feel how the voiceover is basically creating the movie in real time. It's certainly the best use of narration that I've ever seen in film.
Another wonderful video, Cinefix
The book, ‘Film Theory: An Introduction Through the Senses’, notes ‘When it comes to sound, we try to identify a point of origin, a source. In addition, we tend to regard sound as a force or special carrier of authority, a fact on which Michel Chion bases his theory of the ‘acousmetres’, i.e. of the bodiless voice in cinema that apparently has no origin, yet is powerful and ubiquitous. Chion coined this word by combining ‘acousmatic’, an archaic term describing something that one hears but whose origin is invisible, 16 and etre, the French verb ‘to be’.
With this compound word, Chion underlines the active force of sound which possesses the power to attack, invade or manipulate, rather than just being a transitory aural whiff carried by the wind. The place and origin of these ‘vocal characters’ lie neither within film nor outside it: ‘The acousmetre is this acousmatic character whose relationship to the screen involves a special kind of ambiguity and oscillation [ ... J. We may define it as neither inside nor outside the image. The acousmetre can see everything, know everything and have an impact on everything, and it is also ubiquitous.
Examples of acousmetre are the wizard in THE WIZARD OF Oz (US, 1 939, Victor Fleming), the voice of the mother in PSYCHO (US, 1 960, Alfred Hitchcock), Hal, the computer in 200 1 : A SPACE ODYSSEY (GB/US, 1 968, Stanley Kubrick), or Mabuse in DAS TESTAMENT DES DR. MABUSE (G E, 1 933, Fritz Lang) . In all four films, the power of these uncanny voices must be exposed and broken within the diegetic worlds, ‘de-acousmatized’ as Chion calls it, in order to neutralize the threat they pose to the (symbolic) order (of classical narration)’.
On those principles I’d like to draw some emphasis to ways that you can deploy voiceover as a convention in your work. Colloquially, voiceover in a story can be divisive due to being quite common but it’s wonderful if used well. Perhaps the most common use of voiceover in modern film is by a narrator, often the main character, to add additional context to a film. ‘Stand by Me’ is one example of this usage. Unless you can specifically justify a character directing voiceover at the audience, I’d recommend having them address their voiceover to a specific character in the story lest you be accused of lazy exposition.
‘Stand by Me’ justifies voiceover directed at the audience because the main character is revealed to be writing a novel. One way to deploy voice-over directed at a specific character is through an exchange of letters. The anime/manga franchise, ‘Dear Brother’, and various adaptations of ‘Daddy Long Legs’ both take this approach. The ‘Berserk’ episode, ‘Confession’ simply lets the audience into Casca’s mind to hear her voiceover directed at Guts as the two make love. The ending of the ‘Puella Magi Madoka Magica’ episode, ‘I Won’t Rely on Anyone Anymore’ does something similar in letting the audience into Homura’s voiceover directed at Madoka.
‘Sans Soleil’ is a documentary that frames itself through an imaginary exchange of letters via voiceover. ‘Fata Morgana’ constructs an imaginary narrative via voiceover atop B-roll of the Sahara and Sahel deserts. The ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ episode, ‘Weaving a Story’, begins with voiceover from the main characters’ classmates voicing their feelings about them atop footage of things that have happened thus far in the story.
‘Princess Tutu’ sometimes uses voiceover from Drosselmeyer to convey his ability to watch any area of the story world. ‘Her’ plays with voiceover in a similar way to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ in how it explores the qualities of sentient sound.
I love how the bride narrates Lucy Liu´s backstory in Kill Bill
Good mention, I think that's great narration
I am totally with you on Sunset Boulevard. What a great film. And the noire narration is the chef's kiss. 👌
I am surprised none of Wes Anderson's films didn't make the list. A good list still.
Wow! That is a very interesting look! Love this channel for bringing film-lovers like me a new experience!
Leaving Spike Lee out completely is crazy to me. That’s what makes Spike Lee great in my opinion, the use of narration as a way to pull out of the movie to tell the audience that he’s never making fictional worlds, everything he does exists within reality ad that racism doesn’t go away once the credits roll and you stand up to go home, even if it’s not a real person that he’s working with.
Wish you had mentioned it's such a beautiful day. One of the most powerful uses of narration I've ever seen on film
Kate Blanchett as Galadriel telling the history of the ring setting the backstory of the world and allowing us to easily follow what happens throughout the trilogy. It is simple, effective and epic all at the same time.
Another CineFix Video!? Yessss!
I hoped a shoutout for the amazing lightning speed narration of "It's such a beautiful day", with Hertzfeldt himself going from hilariously detached to, in-extremis, empathic and emotional. It was a stroke of genius in a movie full of strokes of genius.
A NEW CINEFIX TOP 10 LIST!
Thank my lucky stars!
Yaaass!!! I love this style of countdown! Perfection ❤️
Here's a mini-category - the disconnected narrator. You've got arty films where somewhat related poetry is read over events, like some of the Tarkovsky films, but you've also got the inner musings of Matt Damon's character in Informant!. It's just sort of stream-of-consciousness--the character is so dishonest and disassociated from his own life experience he just fills his mind with thoughts on penguins and the like. It's one of my favorite uses of voice over because he reveals nothing by it, which is the whole point.
One movie I think fits the “narration is everything” category would be hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. It provides insight, perspective, context, and a whoooole lot of dry humor.
The adult Scout reflecting on her childhood throughout To Kill A Mockingbird is my favorite.
Yaaaaaaaaaassssss. I love the podcasts but I've missed these lists
These picks are so spot on
Finally a Cinefix top ten list!!
I would love to see Cinefix best trilogy list.
I was just about to comment you didn't mention stranger than fiction and you got it in at the very end. While not an all time comedy, narration is the entire premise and I do remember finding it funny back when it came out.
Was really expecting It’s Such a Beautiful Day for the #1 spot. Also, if I had to pick an all time favorite narration it would have to be Apocalypse Now. Great list as usual.
Always enjoyed the minstrel narration of Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye in Cat Balou. Of course, anything Nat sang was great. What a voice. Not sure how many movies have musical narration.
I feel like the "original" cinematic narration could have been a lovely focus: The Silent Era!
Narration intertitles cutting between shots has been done so well in films of the era. It would be nice to see what might have made your list!
Love this channel and love the list. You have so many movies labeled with the wrong year. Noticed it with American Psycho first, then Taxi Driver and a few others.
Those ign influences
Morgan Freeman's final narrated words in The Shawshank Redemption are sheer perfection: 'I hope...'
Not a movie, but my favorite TV show of all time "Burn Notice" uses narration incredibly effectively. Whether it's Michael Westen describing the challenges of being a spy or actually describing spycraft, it's genius.
It had a great Ferris Bueller feel to it - the pause to explain what's happening in a way that is accurate, but comedic
The "I'm ready for my close-up" line from Sunset Boulevard has been misquoted for years. I suggest a video about misquoted movie lines and why people get them wrong. If you've done that already, let me know and I'll give it a watch.
I am so surprised that To Kill a Mockingbird did not make the list. It is a stunning example of excellent narration as well as the quintessential classic in film and literature.
That's what I was looking for. Its certainly one of the most memorable. Connie Nielson tried to mimic that in the intro to Basic and it worked really well.
'Ten Canoes' a low budget Australian production. Absolutely witty, and a great introduction to Aboriginal storytelling. A narrator telling a story about an ancestor telling a story. Well worth watching!
To me a great example of the narration as the substance of the film is the mexican film La Fórmula Secreta, it's such a joy to ser the conjuction of images and the poems of Juan Rulfo giving meaning to the things on screen
When it comes to movie rankings it doesn’t get better than this
Not having Adaptation on this list is a travesty. The single most creative use of voiceover. The voiceover virtually molds the movie as it goes along.
"Out of sync" right as it cuts (1:21) to Harold Crick grabbing a toothbrush from over the sink in Stranger Than Fiction. Nicely done.
The brief moments of narration in Spinal Tap. Chef's kiss
Hunter x hunter in the chimera ant arc, the whole 3rd act of the arc is insane
I am so glad he mentioned stranger than fiction, as the premise it uses narration within the story.
It would never win anything on this channel, but I was kinda hoping I'd see "Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human."
I'm glad you guys didn't include the poorly narrated documentary about the Bluth family where the narration was confused and chaotic.
Last Year At Marienbad is sublime!
David Hyde Pierce narrating a nature documentary about humans dating from the point of view of an alien (and getting things wrong) in Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human has to be one of the funniest uses of narration.
The Prestige needed to be on this list
I don't think anything will top the narration in the Hunter x Hunter anime during the Chimera Ant arc. I know it isn't a movie, but my god, the narration was unbelievably good.
Kind Hearts and Coronets is a crown jewel of cynical narration.
Fight club is a great novel, which I never thought could be adapted to the screen. However, Fincher did a wonderful job, in no small part to Pitt, Bonham-carter and Norton who all delivered great performances. I watch it repeatedly and have even used it to show my kids what a good movie is (along with Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather and Apocalypse Now).
Can’t wait to watch this haha 😅 RETURN OF THE KING
Please appear in my main page more! Thanks for continuing the great content
"Valerie's letter" from v for vendetta is quite crushing and it's awesome 😊
So happy to see Blue on this list, though I would have loved a shout-out for 24 Hour Party People.
Where are Shawshank Redemption, Joy Luck Club, and Smoke Signals? The only narrations to make me cry.
A new top ten list! You do care
A great example of diary narration not mentioned in the video is Heavenly Creatures. The narration is taken word-for-word from the real Pauline Parker’s diary which makes it really chilling when she so callously plans her mother’s murder.
Blue’s narration is flawless. Thank goodness the text was recently republished.
Goodfellas is unique not only because it has a married couple narrating it, but because of the way Karen joins the narration as soon as she joins the story. Their first two dates go horribly but the fact that she's narrating by that point tells us they're meant to be. It's used to a lesser effect with Pesci and DeNiro in Casino but still great. Not the biggest fan of the one interruption from Ralph Finne's character in The Wolf of Wall Street, but I like that picture. And of course Taxi Driver, the voice I hear in my head when I read Punisher comics.
the dreamy narration of the russian ark stands out to create a surreal journey through the st Petersburg museum is done really well.
Awesome top 10
My personal favorite narrations are from Lars Von Trier’s “Nymphomaniac” and “House that Jack Built” (I lump these two together because I’ve always felt they’re the same film with near-opposite intentions).
I just really enjoy that style of two characters going through the story together and analyzing the the events piece by piece in sort of pretentious yet interesting ways. It feels like Von Trier making fun of both himself and his audience. And in both films the stories always circle back around to the moment the conversation begins in a really fun and beautiful way.
I'm convinced that Sam Elliot's character in The Big Lebowski is the tumbleweed from the beginning of the movie in human form, stopping for a drink before tumbling on his way. If you watch the opening scene with that in mind, it really feels like it's the tumbleweed that's narrating as it arrives in Los Angeles. When he stands up from the bar he starts to walk to the left but instead goes to the right, like he's just going where the wind blows him.
Truman Capote’s favorite short story “The Grass Harp” - coming of age yet retrospective narration
Wow 😅 thank you guys 🙏🏼. Please keep dis up maybe a What's the difference 🔜
Kinda sad A Christmas Story didnt even get an honorable mention. Jean Shepard's narration is what makes the film so intoxicating in my personal opinion.
Its literally one of the first films they mentioned. Around the 2:00 mark
From where is the music Cinefix uses in the intro to these vids?
Inherent Vice did brilliantly just by subverting the casting of it's narrator. To hear that story in the candy sweet crackle of Joanna Newsom, that's something else all together.
Shawshank for me. That final narration is so good
yes Blue. Hell yes go go go. I'm so happy with this no.1 choice!!
American Beauty deserves a mention