Who narrated the beginning of Rebecca?
Who was the woman voice that was narrating Rebecca in the very beginning about manderlay?
shareIt's Joan Fontaine.
sharethx.
The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.
MovieChat Forums > Rebecca (1940) Discussion > Who narrated the beginning of Rebecca?
It is supposed to be the second Mrs. DeWinter, i.e. Joan Fontaine.
shareLet me add -- Her narration is eloquent and moving, as befits her matured character by the end of the movie.
shareDid it imply she was dead and haunting the mansion since she passed through the gate without it opening, or was it just her remembering the place?
shareThe second Mrs. de Winter isn't dead, she's just remembering and relating her story.
shareI kind of figured that since she's alive at the end, but thanks for confirming it. :)
sharewas it not a dream she had? i thought that was why she could pass through the gate without opening it
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OCOE - obsessive compulsive olive eater
magi,
Having seen the film multiple times now, of course knowing how it ends, I do nonetheless remember the first time seeing it. While it is correct that the narration refers to having dreamed about the story, starting with a recollection of Manderley itself, I also think that first time I wondered if it may have been a dream of a dead person. Do the dead dream? Or recall events in their lives?
The relevance to me seeing it that first time was that as the film approached the end, I believe it very much plays with the viewer's concern that the second Mrs. de Winter may have been killed by Mrs. Danvers. And remembering how the camera, representing her character, passed through the gate as a spirit might, made me wonder if that opening reference might have been to her being dead.
In other words I think Hitchcock played it intentionally to make the viewer wonder as the film reached its end.
Having said that I also agree with those who have noted how subtly the manner of speaking Joan Fontaine used in the opening narration suggested her being older and more mature compared to the younger self we see in the next scene. No hitch or hesitation, and even somehow a somewhat older person's voice. Just another example I think of what an amazing actress Joan Fontaine is.
I like that opening narrartion. It draws the viewer into the mystery to the story like no other film. I've always taken it to be spoken by the second Mrs De Winter (Joan Fontaine) long after Manderley has been devastated by the fire. I very often dream about my former residence. But everytime I am miraculously given access to the place without the present occupier's knowledge. I roam about it re-living my memories of the place. Perhaps the narrator is still being barred from Manderley by the ghost of Mrs Danvers in her dream.
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