Black Narcissus (1947)

Directors:

Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger

Writers:

Rumer Godden (novel)
Michael Powell (written by) ...

Release Date:

December 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Exquisite Yearning ! . . . Exotic Living ! High in a hidden mountain village of a strange land and extravagant dreams and desires become exciting realities !

Plot:

Anglican nuns, led by the stern Sister Clodagh, attempt to establish a religious community in the Himalayas...

Plot Keywords:

Nun | Convent | General | Mountain | School

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Sister Clodagh
Flora Robson	...	Sister Philippa
Jean Simmons	...	Kanchi
David Farrar	...	Mr. Dean
Sabu	...	The Young General
Esmond Knight	...	The Old General
Kathleen Byron	...	Sister Ruth
Jenny Laird	...	Sister Honey
Judith Furse	...	Sister Briony
May Hallatt	...	Angu Ayah
Shaun Noble	...	Con, Clodagh's Childhood Sweetheart
Eddie Whaley Jr.	...	Joseph Anthony, Young Interpreter
Nancy Roberts	...	Mother Dorothea
Ley On	...	Phuba, Dean's Servant

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Netherlands:12 | South Korea:12 (2004) | West Germany:16 | Finland:S | USA:Approved (PCA #11874, Adult Audience) | UK:U (video rating) (1986) (uncut) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1985) (uncut) | UK:A (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

County Galway, Ireland

Company:

Archers, The

Trivia:

Jack Cardiff said that the lighting and color palette of this film was inspired by the works of 17th-century Dutch painter Vermeer.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the beginning the bell for the future school and infirmary is rung. As the bell swings forward towards the viewer it partially disappears behind some scenery that depicts landscape which is supposed to be behind the bell.

Quotes:

Young Prince: 5am to 7am, algebra with the mathematical Sister. 8am to 10am, religion, especially Christianity with the scriptural Sister. 10am, art. 1pm to 3pm, French and Russian with the French and Russian Sisters, if any. 3pm to 4pm, physics with the physical Sister.

Movie Connections:

Featured in War Stories (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Lullay My Liking

A Hypnotic and Dazzling Film

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+