Fourth wall narrators in film?
August 15, 2011 3:05 PM Subscribe
What are some movies with a true narrator? In which the narrator is not a character in the film.
Recently I watched "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and was struck by the narration. The narrator is not a character in the film, like Ray Liotta's narration in "Goodfellas". The only other film I can think of that did this was a few years ago with "Little Children".
Both of these films are based on novels, so obviously the directors wanted to retain the details of the novel for the movie. I'm not decided on whether or not the narration works; it takes you out of the movie when you hear this random person speak and you think "Who the hell is that?". Especially with "Little Children".
Anyway, are there any other movies with a sort of "fourth wall" narrator?
Recently I watched "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and was struck by the narration. The narrator is not a character in the film, like Ray Liotta's narration in "Goodfellas". The only other film I can think of that did this was a few years ago with "Little Children".
Both of these films are based on novels, so obviously the directors wanted to retain the details of the novel for the movie. I'm not decided on whether or not the narration works; it takes you out of the movie when you hear this random person speak and you think "Who the hell is that?". Especially with "Little Children".
Anyway, are there any other movies with a sort of "fourth wall" narrator?
The Princess Bride, kind of.
posted by something something at 3:10 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by something something at 3:10 PM on August 15, 2011
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
And, if you are interested in TV shows, too, Bob Saget narrates, "How I Met Your Mother".
posted by misha at 3:13 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
And, if you are interested in TV shows, too, Bob Saget narrates, "How I Met Your Mother".
posted by misha at 3:13 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Stranger Than Fiction" has fun with this trope.
posted by softlord at 3:14 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by softlord at 3:14 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty much assuming that the Arrested Development movie will have Ron Howard narrating.
posted by ducktape at 3:17 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by ducktape at 3:17 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
To add to ducktape, if you are willing to venture into TV, Arrested Development actually has a lot of jokes the centre around an unseen, omniscient, non-participating narrator. I would say that this would be a strong example of non-character narration "working."
posted by Nightman at 3:22 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Nightman at 3:22 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
The Brothers Bloom
Magnolia had a narrator but it was voiced by Ricky Jay who also plays a character in the film. I'm not sure if they are supposed to be the same person.
posted by cazoo at 3:26 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Magnolia had a narrator but it was voiced by Ricky Jay who also plays a character in the film. I'm not sure if they are supposed to be the same person.
posted by cazoo at 3:26 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Derek Jacobi was an onscreen narrator (he's credited as "chorus") in Branagh's Henry V.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:27 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 3:27 PM on August 15, 2011
Ever see Kenneth Branagh's 1989 version of "Henry V", with the amazing Derek Jacoby as Chorus? (MUCH better than Laurence Olivier's 1946 version, by the way!)
posted by easily confused at 3:28 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by easily confused at 3:28 PM on August 15, 2011
Although Sam Elliott actually appears in the film, he's so out of place that he's not really "in" the Big Lebowski. He just happens to be at the bar at a couple points.
posted by LionIndex at 3:32 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by LionIndex at 3:32 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
How the West Was Won, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Age of Innocence.
And if I'm remembering correctly, La Jetée is entirely narrated in the third person.
posted by Specklet at 3:42 PM on August 15, 2011
And if I'm remembering correctly, La Jetée is entirely narrated in the third person.
posted by Specklet at 3:42 PM on August 15, 2011
Milo and Otis has Dudley Moore doing the narration.
The start and ending of Dr. Zhivago has Alec Guiness, as the Doctor's brother, narrating.
And of course the adult Ralphie [ Jean Shepard the author ] narrates Christmas Story.
posted by Freedomboy at 3:44 PM on August 15, 2011
The start and ending of Dr. Zhivago has Alec Guiness, as the Doctor's brother, narrating.
And of course the adult Ralphie [ Jean Shepard the author ] narrates Christmas Story.
posted by Freedomboy at 3:44 PM on August 15, 2011
I believe Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fits (though at the end the narrator turns out to be one of the Oompa Loompas, I think). It's from a book, which fits your theory.
FWIW, in How I met Your Mother, Bob Saget plays an older Ted, the lead character, so that doesn't really fit.
posted by parkerjackson at 3:46 PM on August 15, 2011
FWIW, in How I met Your Mother, Bob Saget plays an older Ted, the lead character, so that doesn't really fit.
posted by parkerjackson at 3:46 PM on August 15, 2011
(500) Days of Summer
posted by estlin at 3:48 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by estlin at 3:48 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
Virgin Suicides?
Last of the Dogmen
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER
posted by Ideefixe at 3:49 PM on August 15, 2011
Last of the Dogmen
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER
posted by Ideefixe at 3:49 PM on August 15, 2011
Again if you're ok with TV shows, Pushing Daisies has this in spades.
posted by Tomorrowful at 3:55 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Tomorrowful at 3:55 PM on August 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. A brief example of the narration.
posted by Mr Mister at 3:55 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr Mister at 3:55 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Disney versions of Winnie the Pooh have not only the narrator, but also the text in them.
Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death and I Know Where I'm Going have narrators at the beginning to sort of set things up, though the narrator evaporates after that.
Doesn't Orson Welles narrate The Magnificent Ambersons out of character?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?
posted by Grangousier at 3:57 PM on August 15, 2011
Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death and I Know Where I'm Going have narrators at the beginning to sort of set things up, though the narrator evaporates after that.
Doesn't Orson Welles narrate The Magnificent Ambersons out of character?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?
posted by Grangousier at 3:57 PM on August 15, 2011
Inglourious Basterds has occasional non-character narration.
posted by entropone at 3:58 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by entropone at 3:58 PM on August 15, 2011
La Jetee, although the whole thing is a series of still frames with no dialogue, so maybe that doesn't count.
Wings of Desire?
posted by Crane Shot at 4:10 PM on August 15, 2011
Wings of Desire?
posted by Crane Shot at 4:10 PM on August 15, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. So many more than I thought!
posted by zardoz at 4:16 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by zardoz at 4:16 PM on August 15, 2011
The Age of Innocence
posted by wabbittwax at 4:18 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by wabbittwax at 4:18 PM on August 15, 2011
Again with TV if you're willing to go there. Jim Dale in Pushing Daisies
posted by magnetsphere at 4:22 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by magnetsphere at 4:22 PM on August 15, 2011
Um. The Big Lebowski? Sam Elliott appears on screen and interacts with The Dude, but plays no role in the story.
posted by alby at 4:35 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by alby at 4:35 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Dogville comes to mind, and I found it very effective.
posted by snufkin5 at 4:38 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by snufkin5 at 4:38 PM on August 15, 2011
Stand by Me (based on the short story "The Body" by Stephen King) has a narrator if you allow that it's one of the characters as an adult telling the story.
posted by NoraCharles at 4:41 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by NoraCharles at 4:41 PM on August 15, 2011
Idiocracy has a narrator who is not in the film-- although IIRC the film as conceived did not include a narrator, but it was added in post production.
posted by holyrood at 4:46 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by holyrood at 4:46 PM on August 15, 2011
Alan Arkin was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar as the character John Singer, who had not a single line of dialogue in the 1968 film adaptation of Carson McCruller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Singer, of course, was a deaf mute, which made some narration, here and there, necessary, for clarifying his motives to a mass film audience unlikely to understand American Sign Language, or even Arkin's very expressive face and gestures.
posted by paulsc at 4:54 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by paulsc at 4:54 PM on August 15, 2011
Gossip Girl is another TV show that does this.
posted by something something at 5:33 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by something something at 5:33 PM on August 15, 2011
Rocky Horror Picture Show
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 5:59 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 5:59 PM on August 15, 2011
And, if you are interested in TV shows, too, Bob Saget narrates, "How I Met Your Mother".
Ahem. Bob Saget is playing the character of Ted Mosby, so does not qualify, just as Daniel Stern narrated the older version of Fred Savage's character in The Wonder Years.
posted by designbot at 7:39 PM on August 15, 2011
Ahem. Bob Saget is playing the character of Ted Mosby, so does not qualify, just as Daniel Stern narrated the older version of Fred Savage's character in The Wonder Years.
posted by designbot at 7:39 PM on August 15, 2011
Also, the movie One Week with Joshua Jackson relies heavily upon narration provided by Campbell Scott.
posted by fso at 7:45 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by fso at 7:45 PM on August 15, 2011
Danny DeVito narrates Roald Dahl's Matilda. He also plays her father but the two roles don't intersect.
posted by tracicle at 9:57 PM on August 15, 2011
posted by tracicle at 9:57 PM on August 15, 2011
This isn't what you're asking for, but when I think of narrators breaking the fourth wall and playing with the narrative, I immediately think of The Opposite of Sex. The narrator is the main character, so like I said, she's not unrelated. But, but, but the way she messes with your head throughout is delicious.
posted by Mchelly at 3:53 AM on August 16, 2011
posted by Mchelly at 3:53 AM on August 16, 2011
Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye narrate Cat Ballou through song. There's a parody of this in There's Something About Mary.
posted by Addlepated at 2:04 PM on August 16, 2011
posted by Addlepated at 2:04 PM on August 16, 2011
« Older Need Forensic Text Message Extraction | Which rent discount offer is more appealing? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by the dief at 3:07 PM on August 15, 2011 [1 favorite]