"The narrator is often an unheralded character in movies, with their importance overshadowed by those who appear on screen. Nevertheless, great narration often can subtly help bring the story to life.
In film noir and neo-noir films like "Sunset Blvd." and "Alphaville," it helps the audience get into the heads of otherwise stoic characters as they think through mysteries. Through voice-over, dramas like "Wings of Desire" and "Brief Encounter" become not just visually poetic but linguistically as well. However, narrators do not always play their role in a film in the traditional sense. Some narrators are there to confuse and detract, like in "Detour" and "Last Year at Marienbad," reminding viewers never to trust a narrator unequivocally."
