My Top Ten Favorite Narrated Movies

There has been a bit of debate over the integrity of the use of narration in film making. Having a 3^rd party (or character) tell you what's going on as you're watching can be a blessing or a curse. Sometimes the narrators are "unreliable"-providing a biased account of the story's events. This too, can be either good or bad. It dawned on me that there are indeed several films using narrators that suit my fancy. But for the sake of time, here are ten of my favorites...

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - The saucy and objective narration of Vicky Cristina Barcelona helps audiences feel as if they too, are on a fabulous European vacation. With it, we get a chance to indulge in the sights, smells, and tastes of the artistic bourgeoisie.

Notes on a Scandal - I've made reference to this movie quite a number of times in previous articles. However, for the sake of this article, it must be noted that the narration of Barbara Covett (perfectly ironic last name, by the way) adds a dimension to the story that would otherwise have been lost had the story meandered along with no narration at all. Subsequently, even though much of the plot revolves around Sheba and her indiscretions-it is through Barbara's narration that the events effectively unravel.

Idiocracy - One of the most brilliant movies in all of cinematic history (ok, an extremely grand overstatement) is Idiocracy-a slapstick comedy literally bursting with inappropriateness. The narration in this movie is what highlights the world's penchant for dumbing down everything in sight.

A Christmas Story - As a kid, I loved when my parents would read stories to me. Thus, it's only natural that this Christmas classic be narrated in such a playful and spirited fashion. The comedic action simply comes alive with every ounce of the voice-over.

The Royal Tenenbaums - Would I have found the family as dysfunctional as it was without Alec Baldwin's snarky narration? Nahhh.

American Psycho - This movie (from the mind of the brilliant Bret Easton Ellis) finds another unreliable narrator in Patrick Bateman-- as he describes the base and mundane world of the 1980s in which he lives. The narration serves as a wonderful backdrop to the story in that we can somehow "sympathize" with his sociopathic need to kill. With Patrick's narration we understand how he is able to completely disassociate himself from all things human? He sees most everything in the world as a mere annoyance-excuses for the behavior that ultimately becomes his undoing.

Rules of Attraction-And speaking of Bret Easton Ellis films...this movie is mentioned for no other reason than Victor's (Kip Pardue) European vacation sequence. Expertly voiced (and filmed)-there is perhaps no other scene in movie history that makes you feel as breathless. This movie utilized the narration of a few characters, something else that I found fascinating and crucial to the storyline's multiple points of view.

Forrest Gump - Without Tom Hanks' brilliant interpretation of Forrest Gump's impressionable mind, this film probably would never been a six-time winner at the 67^th Academy Awards. The 1994 brilliance of this movie is due in part to the complex visual storytelling-but also to the narration that pulls all of the pieces together.

Little Children - Little Children is a film that I was at first ambivalent about regarding the narration. But as the story progressed, I found that the narration was a clever way to present the seriousness of the subject matter with a casual voyeuristic approach.

Gummo - The excessive weirdness of this movie is punctuated by the gravelly narration in the film's opening sequence. In terms of bizarre happenings, things rapidly go downhill. Without the narration, would I have been completely lost as to what's going on in the film? More than likely-no; there is no linear storyline to speak of. The dreamlike (or would that be nightmarish?) atmosphere is more than enough to preserve this movie's sick, avant-garde memory.

[Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah... I know-you're probably thinking: where in the heck is Shawshank Redemption, Goodfellas, and Fight Club? Those were great movies that I thoroughly enjoyed. But this is my list, and my sick brain. So there. (sticking out tongue) ]

SOURCES:

www.imdb.com
www.netflix.com
www.amazon.com
www.rottentomatoes.com