Quite a few films are told from the perspective of first-person narration. These narrations depict the past while the audience receives this information as present and they are usually done through the use of flashbacks in the film.
Flashbacks in a film have been used throughout many cinematic masterpieces to bring on a sense of authenticity and relatable and dramatic experience for the audience. From films like Forrest Gump and Big Fish, flashbacks illustrated in these films make up the entirety of the movie and take a careful look at the detail and effective storytelling.
The Shawshank Redemption
Considered one of Stephen King’s best adaptations, The Shawshank Redemption is regarded as one of the greatest films of all time today. The film follows Andy Dufresne as he is wrongfully sentenced to Shawshank for the murders of his wife and her lover. During the time of 19 years, he faces many hardships and trials, he forms a friendship with an inmate named Red, and he finds himself under the thumb of the prison warden and guards.
The Shawshank Redemption has produced some of the best quotes to come from the film and they’ve only added to how great and poetic the film truly is. The film is told through the first-person narration of Red and the events shown in the film serve as a result of his narration. Through this flashback narration, viewers are shown Andy’s journey through prison from Red’s point of view, but also inadvertently presented with the story of Red and the lessons he's not only learned from Shawshank but also Andy.
Stand By Me
Stand By Me is a coming-of-age movie that still touches the hearts of many today. In the film, 4 friends (Chris Chambers, Gordie Lachance, Vern Tessio, and Teddy Duchamp) are on a journey of navigating their screwed home lives and families. While dealing with these things, the friends also have to handle the harassment of town bully and discover the mystery surrounding a missing young boy, whom the friends find dead.
The film is told in one long flashback narration by Gordie Lachance as he's writing a book in the present on his life and friends. Viewers are given a thorough look into the friends lives and their own independent battles that they are facing. This film presents some of the saddest and heart-wrenching scenes in a movie, and it's still a classic til this day.
Big Fish
A film considered as probably one of Ewan McGregor’s best movies, Tim Burton’s Big Fish takes the audience into a world of fantasy and whimsical creatures. Big Fish follows the adventures of Edward Bloom, as he accounts the story of his life to his son Will on his death bed.
The film carries the viewer on a magical and fantastical trek into Edwards journey of self-discovery and experiencing the world. Along the way, he encounters unbelievable beings (werewolf, giant, witch, and Siamese twins) that help him at some part in his journey and life.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang follows Harry Lockhart, a crook who stumbles into an audition and walks away with the part. Harry then heads to Los Angeles to gain more experience for the part, introducing him to Gay Perry, a private investigator, and Harmony Lane, an actress. Lockhart soon finds himself involved in a murder investigation and some dark secrets coming to light.
The film stars Val Kilmer, Robert Downey Jr., and Michelle Monaghan and opens in a flashback to Harry’s childhood that eventually ties into the present day. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang includes entertaining action, comedy, and satire that makes viewers forget about the plot and just enjoy the film all together.
Fight Club
A cult classic with a star studded cast like Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Jared Leto, Meat Loaf, and Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club is a film that explores the themes of free will, societal views of acceptance and success, and journey of self-discovery. It could be considered as one of David Fincher’s best movies even with the mixed reviews from audiences and critics.
The film begins with the narrator on top of a skyscraper ready to explode, with a gun held in his mouth by Pitt’s character. The audience is then transported through a flashback to explore the lead up to how Edward Norton’s character found himself in this situation. Throughout the film there is a witty and satirical presence in every scene, and Pitt and Norton does a great job of going inside their character and expressing the plot and themes authentically and accurately.
Slumdog Millionaire
Who knew flashbacks could save one's life? In the film Slumdog Millionaire, Jamal Malik is competing on “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and about to answer the last question, however, the film soon flashes to Jamal being held captive and being interrogated on how he cheated.
Viewers are then treated to what can be called an “Inception Flashback,” which is a flashback inside of a flashback. Probably only a handful of movies to do so, the film follows Jamal as he flashes back to the game show where he's being asked the question, and then to his childhood to showcase who's his childhood presented him with the answers to these questions. Probably one of Dev Patel’s top roles, the film was amazingly scripted and the cinematography was amazingly done.
The Notebook
A love story surrounding the saying “right person, wrong time," The Notebook tells the story of Noah and Allison Hamilton. Noah is a poor mill worker who meets and falls in love with Allie Hamilton, a young heiress, and the two embark on a love story that spans decades filled with drama and obstacles.
In the opening of the film, an old Noah recounts their love story to a dementia-stricken Allie. As the film flashes back to the beginning of their love story in 1940, the chemistry between Ryan Gosling (Noah) and Rachel McAdams (Allie) is unbelievable amazing. The two take on the roles of lost loves so well that it makes viewers believe the storytelling, the love, and the hurt.
Titanic
A classic tale of tragic love, Titanic follows the love story of Rose Dewitt Bukater and Jack Dawson, a high-class young womam and a poor born orphan, who fall in love aboard the RMS Titanic. The film opens with an old Rose recounting her love story with Jack and the subsequent tragedy that tore them apart and resulted in many lives being lost at sea.
The first-person narration of the film quickly drifts into a flashback sequence that makes up the entire movie. Viewers are transported back in time through one large flashback that gives the film a sort of legitimacy and intimacy. The audience gets to experience the past through the eyes of the present with Rose herself. Titanic is one of the highest-grossing films of all time at $2.02 billion, and it will continue to remain a romantic classic.
Forrest Gump
The classic of all classics, Forrest Gump follows Tom Hank’s character of the same name through flashbacks of his life. Forrest Gump is a young man that's slow in intelligence, yet, has a heart of pure gold. The film initially opens with Forrest sitting at a bus stop in Savannah, GA, recounting his life story to everyone that sits beside him.
As Forrest recounts the events that changed his life, the film takes viewers through a long flashback that presents Forrest’s ups and downs and essential presence in some of the most important events to take place in American history.