If I had to pick one theme from movies as my favorite, it's storytelling. Whether it's the protagonist whose storytelling acts as the (unreliable) narrator like Ed Bloom in Big Fish (2003) or the film uses a frame story (a story within a story) as in The Princess Bride (1987), I love it when movies embrace and explore the human necessity of storytelling in both character and plot.

Furthermore, my favorite movie to successfully use the frame story device is The Fall (2006), not to be confused with the television show. It is a story within a story where, unlike The Princess Bride, we see character growth and development (read audience investment) in both storylines.

The Set-Up

Our frame story begins in a LA hospital in the year 1920. A hollywood stuntman, Roy, suffers a fall in the line of his work and ends up a paraplegic. He tells a story to a little girl with sticky fingers, Alexandria, about a Red Bandit in an effort to get her to steal Morphine for him.

The result is the most beautiful film you've probably never seen. The story of the Red Bandit reacts and shifts with the frame story as the plot progresses and the relationship changes between Roy and Alexandria. I could go on forever about the little details that make this film so amazing, but you need to see it for yourself. Just watch it and be amazed. The fantasy scenes which feature the Red Bandit were filmed in over 28 countries over the course of four years. Now that is dedication to storytelling if you ask me.