This spellbinding movie from that spellbinding film-making team (Powell and Pressburger) is another entry in the long line of literary and film stories that revolve around British restraint and repression unraveling under the force of mysterious foreign cultures (usually Eastern and frequently Indian),and it's one of the best.
A group of nuns travel to the Himalayas to do missionary work among the natives, but instead find themselves coming under the mystical spell of the place and people around them. Deborah Kerr is stunning as the head nun, who's determined to maintain order and British civility at all costs. I still can't decide whether this or "The Innocents" (1961) gave her her best role. At the other extreme is Kathleen Byron's Sister Ruth, who renounces her vows, paints her lips bright red, and engages in a fierce battle of wills with Kerr. What follows is a film that is surprisingly sexual, erotic and wild.
Powell and Pressburger are experts at using color. Instead of employing their Technicolor to simply make their film look pretty, the color almost becomes a character in itself, creating a feverish, hyper-realistic glow to the film. Legendary cameraman Jack Cardiff is responsible for the sterling and Oscar-winning cinematography. Equally stunning is the art direction, which created very realistic mountains out of papier-mache.
A simply sensational film, one that holds up completely and could be watched again and again. This and "Out of the Past" vie in my esteem for best film released in 1947.
Grade: A+
Black Narcissus
1947
Action / Drama
Black Narcissus
1947
Action / Drama
Plot summary
Sister Clodagh, currently posted at the Convent of the Order of the Servants of Mary in Calcutta, has just been appointed the Sister Superior of the St. Faith convent, making her the youngest sister superior in the order. The appointment is despite the reservations of the Reverend Mother who believes Sister Clodagh not ready for such an assignment, especially because of its isolated location. The convent will be a new one located in the mountainside Palace of Mopu in the Himalayas, and is only possible through the donation by General Todo Rai of Mopu - "The Old General" - of the palace, where the Old General's father formerly kept his concubine. On the Old General's directive, the convent is to provide schooling to the children and young women, and general dispensary services to all native residents who live in the valley below the palace. Accompanying Sister Clodagh will be four of the other nuns, each chosen for a specific reason: Sister Briony for her strength, Sister Phillipa who is to tend to the garden for food, Sister Blanche - more commonly referred to as Sister Honey - for her general ability to spread happiness, and troubled Sister Ruth, who the Reverend Mother believes will truly find her faith from the change in locale. The palace comes with an elderly female caretaker, slightly off kilter Angu Ayah, and a holy man who meditates in solitude and silence outside the palace grounds night and day, he who is not to be disturbed. The General also provides a young boy, six year old Joseph Anthony, the General's cook's son, who will live at the convent to provide translation services. But the sisters' primary liaison to the General and the outside world is his agent, native Brit Mr. Dean, which may prove to be problematic in his gender and doing any work around the convent. Sister Clodagh faces early challenges in feeling the need to accept two people to the convent: seventeen year old Kanchi, who is pushing the boundaries of her sexuality; and the Old General's son, the "Young General", who wants the same educational opportunities, if not better, than that offered to his female counterparts. Beyond these issues, each of the sisters is challenged by this posting, from the cultural differences, to the isolation, to the general openness of their environment. Sister Clodagh, as the leader, feels that she has no one to turn to in her confusion, her thoughts turning back to her time in Ireland before joining the order and her love for a young man named Con that was partly the reason for her decision to devote her life to God. But it is Sister Ruth whose issues may be the most problematic as she is becoming unhinged in her growing romantic obsession with Mr. Dean, especially as jealousy emerges in she also believing that Sister Clodagh is falling in love with him as well, which may or may not be the case.
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A Hypnotic and Dazzling Film
what the heck?!?!
There must be two DIFFERENT movies out there called BLACK NARCISSUS. Because one has a more than respectable score of 8.0 on IMDb and is described as a dandy film about the Himalayas. The one I saw was a really slow and dull film about some nuns who seemed pretty crazy--absolutely, inexplicably crazy! I could tell this was definitely nothing like the exquisite NUN'S STORY--a very engaging and intelligently written film about a nun serving in the Congo. Instead, you have terribly flawed and screwed up nuns that seemed so ill-adjusted that you question whether or not they were capable of helping any person in any locale! To me, it was just poorly written and totally unconvincing. And, apart from Atheists who are looking for a film that makes Anglican nuns look bad, I can't see how any other person would be interested in this film--that is, apart from watching its beautiful visuals. Yes, the film is a beautiful color film. However, as far as the character themselves go, they lack color or even coherence.
Stunning
What a beautiful film. The story may be occasionally sleepy, but everything else compensates. The script is very well written, the film is well scored and Brian Easdale's music is beautiful. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's direction is wonderful as well, and the acting is great. Kathaleen Byron's eye-rolling jealousy makes the film even more interesting and her scene with Deborah Kerr(who also gives a great performance) on the bell tower is an absolute classic. Sabu as a wealthy loyal general and Jean Simmons as the native girl give some spice too. But what made Black Narcissus were its visuals, they are absolutely gorgeous, the cinematography is incredibly lush and the stylised Himilayan scenery is beautiful. Overall, a stunning film. 10/10 Bethany Cox