The first scene of Songs My Brother’s Taught Me in which Zhao incorporates voice over narration is during the introduction of the film. The film begins with Johnny riding a white horse outside of his home, narrating how running a horse too hard with a great deal of rigor can suppress the spirit of the animal. Johnny continues to open the film to the audience through his narrations by stating “anything that runs wild got something bad in em. You wanna leave some of that in there cause they need it to survive out here.” As Johnny narrates these words to the audience, he establishes a persisting tone for the film which later depicts his unrestrained sense of character that allows him to survive and cope with his father’s death. The words which
