Top 10 Uses of Narration of All Time | A CineFix Movie List

As often as we sit in theaters listening to characters talk to each other, we can’t forget about the moments where we, the audience, are talked to. Narration is a tricky thing to do well, and we can’t get Morgan Freeman to lay down voice over tracks on EVERY movie. But when it does work, narration can really elevate a film in a number of ways. How many ways you ask? We think there’s at least ten… So here are our 10 favorite uses of narration on film of all time. 

That’s a weirdly difficult phrase to turn into a headline, btw…

There is of course the nostalgic retrospective voice over you get from Stand By Me or A Christmas Story, and the fourth wall breaking, direct address of Deadpool and High Fidelity.  Films like Wim Wenders fantastic Wings of Desire or Alphaville offer us inner access to characters we might not understand another way, while Paul Thomas Anderson and no relation Wes Anderson have a knack for pulling off a disconnected omniscient narrator. If you’ve got 20-something minutes to spare, we’ll cover all of these and like 100 other examples of what Clint likes to call “the good stuff.”

The Picks:
10 - Retrospective - The Virgin Suicides (1999) dir. Sofia Coppola
9 - Realtime - Fight Club (1999) dir. David Fincher
8 - Inner Access - La Noire de… (1966) dir. Ousmane Sembene
7 - Omniscient - The Big Lebowski (1998) dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
6 - Group - 20th Century Women (2016) dir. Mike Mills
5 - Unreliable - Last Year at Marienbad (1961) dir. Alain Resnais
4 - Sourced on Screen - Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1993) dir. Francis Ford Coppola
3 - Unsourced on Screen - Days of Heaven (1978) dir. Terrence Malick
2 - Film Noir - Sunset Boulevard (1950)
1 - Narration is the Whole Point - Blue (1993) dir. Derek Jarman

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[Cinéphile]

The shawshank redemption has one of the most soothing narrations. Morgan Freeman is genius

[shadowgiraffe]

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.

[tybrown]

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.

[_erbetta]

"It's Such a Beautiful Day" is a great mix of many of these categories. Definitely deserved at least a mention imo.

[grifffaust]

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.

[waungles]

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.

[newwave]

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.

[bradsullivan]

I know its briefly mentioned here, but Ray Liotta's specific narration of 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 a brilliant moment

[matthewzito]

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.

[salmanilla]

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.

[bannnnner]

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

[lydia]

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.

[gackutog]

I cannot imagine opening youtube and not watching another amazing top10 from Cinefix. Since years, this videos became a celebration of cinema.

[jordanloux]

Gotta give a shoutout to The Emperor's New Groove. It has without a doubt my favorite comedic narration in a movie

[jessedeal]

I was hoping for a "Greek Chorus" catagory: Hercules, Little Shop of Horrors, There's Something About Mary, and especially Cat Ballou.

[boxybob]

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

[ingeborgolder]

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

[abhishekrath]

Ah another good old Cinefix list out. Can't say how happy I am seeing this

[bryangrill]

I'm so happy Top 10's came back. Thank you guys!

[redmist]

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