User Reviews

Wind is always blowing throughout the monastery the Servants of God nuns have inherited in a remote part of India. In accepting being in charge of the new place, Sister Clodagh will question her faith as she faces one of the greatest challenges of her life.

Michael Powell, working with his usual collaborator, Emeric Pressburger, on the Rumer Godden's novel, created a film that stands the test of time. His achievement is even more incredible as he shot this film in an English studio. The film, brilliantly photographed by Jack Cardiff, one of the best men in the business, and a frequent ally of Mr. Powell, is one of the best pictures of the English cinema. The glorious Technicolor still looks great.

"Black Narcissus" questions how some Christians, in this case, nuns of a religious order, can be so blind about things that deviate from what it deems is the right way. When the young General wants to be part of the school the nuns are creating, they reject him, yet, he asks about how would a God, made human in the form of Christ, would respond to his petition.

Sister Clodagh is also put in a spot when she wants to get rid of the old man who day after day sits staring at the distant mountains. It's Mr. Dean who challenges her in asking how would her God deal with the old man. Sister Clodagh's past is revealed in flashbacks when she was a young woman and in love with a young man who wanted to emigrate to America and she wasn't ready to follow him.

Also, Sister Ruth, who is a rebel, decides to abandon the order because she is in love with Mr. Dean. The highlight of the film is the scene in which Ruth begins applying the deep red lipstick, which makes quite a contrast with her beautiful reddish hair to the horror of Sister Clodagh, who clearly is not prepared for the desertion.

There is also an undercurrent between Sister Clodagh and Mr. Dean, who one feels loves her. The nun is too loyal to the principles that made her take the vows. She realizes at the end that while she had the best intentions to transform the place, she is only a human being who suffers a defeat because of her surroundings.

Deborah Kerr enjoyed one of the best triumphs of her career with the role of Sister Clodagh. She is seen as a young woman of great beauty and the austere nun she became later in her life. David Farrar is Mr. Dean, the Englishman who is now living in that remote part of India and knows the people well. Kathleen Byron makes an excellent contribution as the rebel Sister Ruth. Flora Robson plays the kind Sister Philippa. Jean Simmons appears as a cruel Indian girl, and Sabu has some interesting moments in the film.

This is one of Mr. Powell's best movies in his influential film career. He was one of the most innovative film makers of his generation and it shows well in "Black Narcissus".

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+

Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) is promoted to Sister Superior, and sent to establish an Anglican mission/convent/school in a remote village high in the Himalayas. With her she brings several other nuns (a level-headed Judith Furse, an older nun Flora Robson, and a neophyte Kathleen Byron). The strange atmosphere of this remote region affects all those involved. Ruth (Kathleen Byron) falls hopelessly in love with a British jack-of-all trades and local agent (David Farrar). The surrounding events and Farrar's presence also rekindle Kerr's memories of a failed love affair she once had with a young man (Shaun Noble). When Noble left her life, Jesus Christ entered, and Kerr became a nun. Jean Simmons plays a beautiful beggar girl, who is placed in the care of Kerr by Farrar. Simmons later becomes Prince Dilip Raj's (Sabu's) wife, of sorts. The most stunning scenes occur toward the end of the movie. Ruth's mental disintegration and her pathetic pass at Farrar are very sad. Ruth's change in appearance is visually riveting, as much perhaps as Isabelle Adjani's transformation in The Story of Adele H. The performances by Kerr and Byron are superlative, their facial expressions revealing deep heartfelt emotion and pain. If you think Holly Hunter did a great (non-speaking) acting job in The Piano, see Black Narcissus for a real revelation!

This Powell-Pressburger film is one of the most beautifully photographed color movies ever made. Black Narcissus won two Academy awards, for art direction and cinematography. It would take over 3 decades for a comparable film (Days of Heaven) to come along. If you are fortunate enough to have viewed the laserdisc version of the movie, you will be able to listen to Powell and Scorsese do a running commentary of the movie. Toward the end, you will learn how the final scene was shot to a film score, and not the other way around.

This was a film released in the U.K. just after World War 2 when those of us living there, in a rather battered and sometimes depressing post war environment, had become used to a long series of gritty B/W wartime films, and were more than ready to be blown away by the atmosphere and colour in this film. It has been a treasured memory ever since, and I watch it quite regularly; but I have never commented on it here in case this background might have distorted my artistic appreciation. Now, more than 60 years after its release, I am an octogenarian and believe I can put this concern aside.

I find it sad to think that the vast majority of the people I know today were born long after this film was released and, if they have heard of it at all, they think of it as one of the old classics which are virtually never watched today - like for example "Gone with the Wind" or even "Intolerance" or "Hypocrites". Unfortunately many lesser 'classic films' achieved this status because they pioneered some technological innovation which was quickly accepted by the entire movie industry - the films themselves were often little better than garbage, so movie fans who hired copies from rental outlets often developed an aversion to such classics. This has seriously affected public interest in what I would term the true classics - films where the viewing experience itself was sufficiently intense and memorable to warrant their designation as a classic.

If I were asked to identify one feature which alone marks a film as a true classic, it would be a visual experience that transports the viewer into the world portrayed in the film so convincingly that he or she becomes oblivious to faults, whether in the costumes, the acting, the sets, the camera work, the editing, the dialogue, or the remainder of the sound track including (if any) the score. With such films the viewer undergoes a memorable experience. Books and stage plays can occasionally provide a similar experience, but the greater realism of the cinema usually makes it much more intense. Throughout the history of movies this has remained characteristic of films that carry the mark of a true classic. Laurence Olivier's Henry V was the first film of this type which I ever saw and Black Narcissus was the second.

BN is a film about an Anglican community of nuns serving in a remote area of the Himalayas in Northern India. Both the Mission building and the scenery providing the background to it were shown with a hard edged realism that quickly made one realize the enormous stresses to which the characters soon became subject. Much later, when I read that this was in fact not location filming but a very polished Pinewood Studio production, I found it almost impossible to believe. Even with today's technological advances, including such recent developments as computerised visuals, there are few if any films that can surpass the visual imagery Jack Cardiff achieved here. The photography was superb for its time, and continues to provide a lesson for modern film makers who have so many more resources to play with. But the film did not achieve it greatness from this alone. Acting is always controversial, but critics were almost united in their praise for the acting in this film - I have watched it many times and have still not experienced any sequences which seriously jar my appreciation of it. The last time I played my well used copy was just after Jean Simmon's recent death, which brought this film back to mind again and indirectly has probably led me to pen these comments. Jean was superb in a small part as Kanchi, a local girl who caught the eye of one of the local Indian Princes, played by Sabu in what was probably his finest role. It's star was Deborah Kerr who excelled in an award winning part as Sister Clodagh the leader of the mission, strongly backed up by Kathleen Byron with a superb performance as Sister Ruth whose sanity was gradually undermined by the surroundings - ultimately with disastrous results for the entire community.

Films of this quality released so long ago make it is very difficult to view most modern films without a feeling of disappointment, and impossible to even watch much of the rubbish which is promoted as the latest and the best today. For me, we are rapidly approaching a stage where there are a few hundred films readily available on DVD that completely surpass almost everything which is currently produced. I have just read reviews of the half dozen new films that are being released in my area this week, and cannot but question why I should watch any of these new offerings when I have copies of several films which will provide a far better viewing experience sitting on my shelf? This viewpoint is becomes increasingly common among serious film-goers. Before long the industry will be forced to face the choice of whether to abandon any pretense to artistic merit and concentrate solely on productions that have their maximum appeal for an increasingly limited audience, or to stop its mad rush to produce more such rubbish and re-think the role it should play in providing artistic entertainment in a 21st century world. Hopefully there are signs that an increasing number of independent film makers are beginning to do just this.

I rate Black Narcissus at a very solid 9 stars and cannot recommend it too strongly. DVD's are still readily available, I doubt if this will be true of Avatar in 60 years time.

Black Narcissus is a whirlwind of a film, and a milestone in cinematography. I mean, this film looks amazing. The set of the mountain village is a great pleasure to watch. It's a built set, not the actual Himalayas, and the set decoration and lush design are wonderful and always intriguing. The cinematography itself is seamless, beautiful strokes of a rigid, expressive painting. Each closeup is so grand and overpowering. The lighting is moody but in such an overt manor. Each shot itself is interesting, not only because of the set but because the pure look of the film, especially for 1947, is almost alien. One hardly hears about Powell and Pressburger films, and here on IMDb, they are rated highly but never on the Top 250, yet their ratings and votes are equal to the amounts of many on that list. There is something completely offbeat about their films, and I love it. Seeing The Red Shoes caused me to admire them, but Black Narcissus makes me fascinated with them. Their collaboration blends very personal visions into something much different. This film makes you desperately want to see more.

I have now watched this film at least seven times and I am always startled by its majestic photography (all done in England and Wales), intelligent and modern dialog, and the way it dispels the dogmas of Catholic faith through cultural contact, the doubts of a non-believer, the inclement weather, the incredible height of inescapable premises, and ultimately the renunciation of a nun. Michael Powell's direction goes beyond impeccable: It is as near-perfect as one will see. But it is the psychological element, the bottled up hysteria of the nuns against the backdrop of forbidding nature, the aloof British male who is as much a Western peacock as the young Indian general who falls for the "beggarmaid," and above all the unraveling nun that provide the foundations for a riveting film with a climax to match and the most perfect ending sequence I can think of.

Having enjoyed the recent release of Jean Renoir's "The River" on the Criterion Collection DVD, I was looking forward to seeing this film adaptation of yet another exotically set Rumer Godden book. As it turns out, this 1947 classic is far more enthralling thanks to the visionary film-making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, an intriguing plot line focused on the conflict between devotion and desire and a sterling cast headed by 26-year old Deborah Kerr as Sister Clodagh, a precursor to her similarly themed work in "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison" ten years later.

The beautifully photographed movie tells an unusual tale of Anglican nuns who establish a convent in an extremely remote region of the Himalayas called Mopu. Chosen in Calcutta by her Mother Superior, Sister Clodagh becomes the Sister Superior, one of the youngest ever chosen, of the convent. Her primary task is a daunting one, to convert a donated sultan's palace into a convent, transforming it from a residence for concubines to a school and a hospital. The terrain, 9,000-foot elevation and climate all prove challenging, and physical problems are compounded by ensuing health issues and the decline in overall morale, the result of the invariable conflict between the sensuality of the environment and the regimented order of the nuns' lives.

Each sister reacts differently and manages their inner turmoil in different ways. Matters come to a head with the arrival of three outsiders - a cynical, agnostic Brit, Mr. Dean, who sparks unholy feelings among the sisters; the son of the General who bestowed the gift of the palace, hungry for education from the nuns; and Kanchi, an exotic native girl who is unruly and in need of male attention. The film's title refers to an exotic perfume, worn by the General's son, which clouds the air around their mission and consequently redirects the thoughts of the sisters to the world they were supposed to leave behind. All their lives collide in ways that lead to tragic consequences.

The hallmark of this movie is the lush cinematography by Jack Cardiff, who did similar duties on "The African Queen". Amazingly, the film makes extensive use of matte paintings and large scale landscape paintings (the artwork is by Peter Ellenshaw) to suggest the mountainous environment of the Himalayas. The cast is mostly quite effective. In one of her first starring roles, Kerr is superb as Sister Clodagh, providing the right shadings to her conflict-ridden character. However, it is Kathleen Byron (who looks eerily like Cate Blanchett) as the deranged Sister Ruth and a 17-year old Jean Simmons as Kanchi, who threaten to steal the picture. The suspenseful climax will remind you a bit of Hitchcock's "Vertigo" made 11 years later. This is a fascinating, subtly erotic film about repression and duty, sometimes melodramatic but constantly affecting, and quite worthy of viewing.

Like all of Michael Powell's films, Black Narcissus has an element of unreality, always reminding us that we are watching a film, and that films are the product of the maker's imagination. This is my favorite of all of Powell's films; every frame is a work of art. It is difficult to believe that this movie was not really filmed in the Himalayas. The juxtapositioning of the closed, inner-directed world of the convent with the sweeping panorama of the world's highest mountains is the point of the film: we are simultaneously within the vast universe and within the confines of ourselves. Black Narcissus has another special thing to recommend it - a suitable role for the woefully under-appreciated Sabu. He was the most natural of performers, with a wonderful screen presence. The way he is shot by Jack Cardiff shows just what a handsome and regal presence he had. I have read that the story's author, Rumer Godden, was unhappy with the casting of Sabu for the part of the Young General, and said some very unpleasant things about him. She was wrong. If Sabu were around today, he would be a major international star. Most of the studios he worked for simply didn't know what to do with him - the times just weren't right. We are fortunate to be able to see him in this excellent movie.

Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) is put in charge of a remote convent in the Himalayas mountain. British agent Mr. Dean reignites a fire from the memories of her failed romance. She is confronted by the unstable Sister Ruth. Lower caste Kanchi (Jean Simmons) seeks shelter in the compound. The Young General, a local prince, comes seeking education and falls for Kanchi. The idyllic location self-destructs as passions inflame the women.

This is an intriguing character study drama. Reading about it, it looks like it was applauded having won two Oscars for superior technical standards. There is one brilliant sequence where the colors of the flowers explode across the screen. Even on my small TV, the brilliance of the colors is shocking. What is more compelling are the many closeups of Kerr's face. The details of her beautiful face is readily present. As for the story, there is a lot going on. There's maybe too much going on. I would concentrate the story into a trio between Clodagh, Ruth, and Dean. As often with movies based on novels, there can be too much material to squeeze into two hours. Deborah Kerr is terrific. David Farrar needs to be more so that the women can reasonably fall apart for him. Overall, it's a good film.

A movie about nuns in the Himalayas doesn't sound very interesting,but you're in for a surprise when you watch "Black Narcissus" The movie is full of tension and mystery, depicting the cultural clash between the so-called civilized west and mysterious India. Deborah Kerr on the brink of Hollywood fame is riveting as the young Sister Superior, I've never seen her better. David Farrar as the britisher employed by the local Raj is perfect.It's one of the most beautiful Technicolor films ever made and the recreation of those distant Himalayas are fantastic.It's hard to believe they never left Britain.Watch out for Kathleen Byron's performance of an emotionally disturbed nun's descent into madness. She's really scary. A wonderful movie I will watch many times in the years ahead.

I've just got back from watching this on the big screen and my head's still reeling. It's remarkably gorgeous to watch.

What seems to come out most clearly on the big screen is how much the film depends on showing off the trio of handsome women, Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr, and Kathleen Byron. They're all different, and they're all differently presented by a camera that loves them. In particular, at times the film seems to exist only to display the changes in Kathleen Byron's face as she tumbles into madness.

Because, honestly speaking, this is in many other ways a disappointing Powell & Pressburger film. Big themes are set up and regularly referred to (cold nuns/hot natives, Christianity/Buddhism/Hinduism, the cracking-up of an enclosed community, etcetera) but they aren't really explored. The film is really a big lush bath of sensations, held together by the three beauties, and especially by Kathleen Byron. It's like Gone to Earth, but with more pulchritude and less plot.

Having said that, even a disappointing Powell & Pressburger film will outrank most other films: I gave it 9/10. If the chance ever comes your way to see this film on the big screen, don't hesitate. You'll be ravished.

(Flash Review)

I watched this as I heard it won an Oscar for best cinematography. Going into it with zero expectations I was obviously impressed with its careful consideration for every shot, lighting, music score and color palette as a very early Technicolor film. I keep forgetting this was 1947; wow. The story is a slow burn and not one that would peak much interest which is Nuns setting up a new convent located on a massive cliff on Mopu in the Himalayas. This is quite a psychological story with these four nuns trying to get things established and running and their struggles with blending into the established cultures as well their faith when certain temptations present themselves. The story turns from calm to incredibly and eerily intense while properly utilizing their unique location. This is not for everyone yet those who give it a shot can soak in the cinematography while waiting for the slow burn story to eventually unfold.

I was looking forward to the 'Black Narcissus' as I consider Deborah Kerr to be a fine actress and Powell and Pressburger important directors, whose 'A Canterbury Tale' is a significant film. I was very disappointed by BN: I found it phony in terms of story line and totally unconvincing in terms of characters. It has a terribly condescending attitude towards the "native" population which is shown in a mumbo-jumbo kind of way, made worse by English actresses playing the roles of Angu Ayah and Kanchi. Farrar's character, wearing shorts, half open shirt and sandals in a convent at 8000 feet, is ridiculous. Kerr's sister Clodagh, whose background and managerial skills are an obvious recipe for disaster, is unconvincing. The sets are obviously studio constructions and the colours now look terribly washed out. The only redeeming aspect of this film is Kathleen Byron's demonic appearance. The ending is powerful and will remind you of a far better film made some years after this one.