Which films use voiceover as seduction?

Double Indemnity (1944), All About Eve (1950), Breathless (1960), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and 3 more films in the CineCode library.

What kind of technique is voiceover as seduction?

It is a narrative technique. Related narrative techniques include Frame Narrative as Trap, Direct Address, Dead Narrator.

Narrative technique · used in 9 films

Voiceover as Seduction

Giving the narrator a voice so intimate, witty and self-aware that you get pulled into their point of view. You find yourself going along with things you would normally reject.

Examples

9 films that use it

Double Indemnity
Billy Wilder · 1944
Neff's narration is the most enjoyable account of committing murder in film history. It's clever, it pokes fun at himself and it is exact about his own moral failures. Wilder and Chandler use the voiceover to seduce you. Neff charms you the way Phyllis charmed him, and the narration shows you that you are just as easy to win over.
Where to see it: Neff's description of first seeing Phyllis. The narration works on you the way Phyllis worked on him. The writing is so good that you end up on his side.
All About Eve
Joseph L. Mankiewicz · 1950
Addison DeWitt's narration is the most dangerous tool in the film. It is witty and knowing, and it sounds like the voice of truth. Later, the film reveals that he holds power of his own as the one controlling Eve.
Where to see it: DeWitt's introductory monologue. He introduces the theater world with the easy confidence of someone who thinks he owns it.
Breathless
Jean-Luc Godard · 1960
Breathless has no voiceover. Michel talks out loud instead, to Patricia, to himself and at one point straight to the camera. His running commentary covers his calculations, his delusions and his habit of casting himself as a Bogart figure. It is seductive because it is honest about that self-flattery. Godard gets you to like Michel while knowing you shouldn't. The narration works on you the same way Michel works on Patricia.
Where to see it: Michel talking to the camera as he drives the stolen car. His commentary carries out the seduction it describes, and you get drawn into a point of view you should resist.
Raging Bull
Martin Scorsese · 1980
The film has no running narration. The closest it comes is LaMotta in 1964, rehearsing his nightclub act alone in a dressing room. Framing the story with a washed-up man performing a version of himself invites you to understand, if not sympathize with, a man who destroys everything he loves.
Where to see it: The opening titles. LaMotta shadowboxes alone in slow motion to the Intermezzo, and no voice explains him. The film then cuts to him in 1964, rehearsing his act in front of a mirror.
Goodfellas
Martin Scorsese · 1990
Henry Hill's narration opens with 'As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster'. For the entire first half of the film, Scorsese makes that desire infectious. The narration is proud, funny and energetic. You're meant to share in it before it gets stripped away.
Where to see it: Henry's opening voiceover and the tracking shot into the Copacabana. His voice makes this world glamorous.
Casino
Martin Scorsese · 1995
Ace and Nicky both narrate, and sometimes they talk over each other. Ace explains how the casino works, and Nicky covers the street side. They're so relaxed and funny that you enjoy the inside tour. You end up admiring a criminal system before the film shows you what it costs.
Where to see it: Watching the watchers. Ace explains how everyone in the casino watches everyone else, from the dealers on the floor up to the cameras in the ceiling.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Martin Scorsese · 2013
Jordan Belfort's voiceover is a sales pitch aimed at you. He explains his schemes with the enthusiasm of a man who loves his work, and Scorsese makes him convincing. That is the film's ethical challenge. By the time you dislike Jordan, you have already enjoyed everything he did.
Where to see it: Jordan's voiceover over the opening Ferrari sequence. The voiceover signs you up as a student in a masterclass on manipulation. The seduction works on you the way it worked on his brokers.
The Irishman
Martin Scorsese · 2019
Frank's narration is matter-of-fact, methodical and free of remorse. Scorsese's achievement is that this flat tone condemns Frank more than any confession would. You also can't avoid going along with his point of view.
Where to see it: Frank's narration describing how to dispose of a body. He delivers it in the same tone as a recipe.
The Killer
David Fincher · 2023
The Killer narrates his work in a dry, funny voice, and you get pulled onto his side. Then he kills a taxi driver and a secretary, and you notice how easily you went along. The voice never gets warmer.
Where to see it: The Dominican Republic stretch. The Killer comes home to find his girlfriend hurt, and a taxi driver gives him the 2 assassins' nicknames before the Killer kills him.

Questions

Quick answers

What is voiceover as seduction in film?: Giving the narrator a voice so intimate, witty and self-aware that you get pulled into their point of view. You find yourself going along with things you would normally reject.
Which films use voiceover as seduction?: Double Indemnity (1944), All About Eve (1950), Breathless (1960), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995) and 3 more films in the CineCode library.
What kind of technique is voiceover as seduction?: It is a narrative technique. Related narrative techniques include Frame Narrative as Trap, Direct Address, Dead Narrator.

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