[ad_1]
Filmgoers may not always be supportive of flashbacks because they can slow down the plot or confuse the audience. However, not all filmmakers feel the same. Some directors decide to tell their story through an extended flashback, as seen in Slumdog Millionaire, Titanic, or Jennifer’s Body.
Often, movies that are told through flashbacks begin at the end, where there’s a hint of the fallout of past events. However, rather than linear storytelling, it’s more interesting to increase intrigue by going back in time until the audience understands the stakes of the opening scene. As hated as flashbacks may be, there are plenty of beloved films that are comprised of extended flashbacks.
10/10 The Phantom Of The Opera
2004
Viscount Raoul (Patrick Wilson), at an old age, tells the audience The Phantom of the Opera after bidding on a music box while a brand-new chandelier is displayed. As Raoul remembers what led to the theater’s repairs, the audience is taken back in time.
Even with Gerard Butler’s inconsistent vocals, the actor brings the necessary intensity to the Phantom, who seeks revenge after finding out that Raoul and Christine Daaé (Emmy Rossum) are in love. After Rossum’s outstanding performance as Christine, it’s clear why current-day Raoul is still taken by Christine.
9/10 The Shawshank Redemption
1994
In Shawshank Redemption, Red (Morgan Freeman) told the story through first-person narration flashback. He befriends Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), who was wrongfully convicted of a double murder and sentenced to two life sentences.
Over the years, the two grow close. Andy struggles to navigate Shawshank and gets involved in a money laundering scheme orchestrated by the warden (Bob Gunton). With Red’s narration walking the audience through their history, Shawshank Redemption is contemplative and touching. It’s obvious how much Red learned from Andy and his time at Shawshank.
8/10 Stand By Me
1986
Stand by Me is told through flashback as Gordie Lachance (Wil Wheaton) hears about a stabbing. He is taken back to his childhood with his friends Chris Chambers (River Phoenix), Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman), and Vern Tessio (Jerry O’Connell).
Gordie’s flashback shows that each kid was dealing with their own stressors. The four boys are also faced with the challenges of finding a dead body, as they hoped to become local heroes. This adaptation of Stephen King’s The Body novella has become a classic, and for good reason. Stand by Me balances adventure and nostalgia while mourning lost childhood.
7/10 The Usual Suspects
1995
The neo-noir film The Usual Suspects follows Roger “Verbal” Kint (Kevin Spacey) as he’s questioned about a gunfight that he survived on a boat. He walks the investigator through everything, explaining how he and everyone else on the boat ended up in that situation because of Keyser Söze.
With the flashback narration from Verbal, the story’s credibility is questionable at best. With this uncertainty, the audience is left as captivated by the story as the investigator. The Usual Suspects boasts one of the best plot twists in cinema history.
6/10 Interview With The Vampire
1994
Interview with the Vampire adapts Anne Rice’s novel of the same name. The Oscar-nominated movie was praised not only for its many outstanding performances from the star-studded cast, but also for its unique take on vampires.
In an extended flashback, Louis de Pointe du Lac (Brad Pitt) relays his life story to Daniel Malloy (Christian Slater), from the point of his transformation to a vampire. Louis’ story focuses on his strained relationship with his maker, Lestat de Lioncourt (Tom Cruise), and his father-daughter-like relationship with child-turned-vampire Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) as they search for other vampires.
5/10 Slumdog Millionaire
2008
Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Amazingly, Jamal correctly answered every question. The film begins with Jamal being interrogated about his time as a contestant on the show.
The flashbacks throughout Slumdog Millionaire show how Jamal knew the answers to each question because of his time growing up in the slums of India. The audience feels a great connection with Jamal through the flashbacks. The accusations of his cheating are outrageous, so audiences will no doubt feel sympathetic to his fight throughout the film.
4/10 Titanic
1997
Titanic is an iconic romantic tragedy. The movie is told from the perspective of Titanic survivor Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet), who is older and looking back on her time on the ship with Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio).
Rose relays her love story with Jack and how she, an upper-class woman, fell in love with the poor orphaned artist. She provides a great level of detail in her tale, and the result is one of the most influential movies of all time. The admiration she still feels for Jack after all these years makes their romance’s end all the more heartbreaking.
3/10 Jennifer’s Body
2009
Jennifer’s Body is a comedy-horror film that initially bombed due to misleading marketing, but it has since become a cult classic. From solitary confinement in a correctional facility, Needy (Amanda Seyfried) looks back on her time in high school when her ex-best friend, Jennifer Check (Megan Fox), became the perfect femme fatale succubus.
Jennifer’s Body explores the complexities and depth of women’s friendship. Knowing Needy ends up incarcerated adds a deeper level of intrigue to the film as viewers wait to find out how she got there. Jennifer’s Body might not be very scary, but it’s filled with great performances and an interesting plot.
2/10 Fight Club
1999
Fight Club is a cult classic film that’s historically significant for its social commentary. In the opening scene of Fight Club, the Narrator (Edward Norton) stands on top of a building while Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) holds a gun to his mouth. From there, the film rewinds to show how the Narrator ended up where the audience just saw him.
Telling this story through a flashback adds to Fight Club‘s intensity. While the audience thinks they have an idea of the ending from the opening scene, nothing prepared viewers for the film’s major plot twist. Given how unreliable the Narrator’s flashback is, Fight Club is full of mystery and intrigue.
1/10 Citizen Kane
1941
Citizen Kane’s flashback isn’t from the main character’s perspective. When Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) dies, his last words are investigated by a reporter, who reconstructs Kane’s life through the flashbacks of different characters.
With older characters being responsible for these flashbacks, there’s some uncertainty about the reliability of their stories. However, the audience relying on flashbacks from other characters to uncover the truth about the titular character adds a more complicated layer to Citizen Kane. Luckily, the movie never gets too complicated.
[ad_2]
Source link