Black Narcissus

1947

1h 40m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

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Drama

A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. The climate in the region is hostile and the nuns are housed in an odd old palace. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.

Directors

Emeric Pressburger

Michael Powell

Writers

Michael Powell(writer by)

Emeric Pressburger(writer by)

Rumer Godden(novel by)

Stars

Deborah Kerr

David Farrar

Flora Robson

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Videos3

Photos66

Top cast

Sister Clodagh

Mr. Dean

Sister Philippa

Sister Ruth

The Young General

Kanchi

Sister Honey

Sister Briony

The Old General

Angu Ayah

Joseph Anthony

Con

Mother Dorothea

Phuba

Girl in Classroom (uncredited)

Maxwell Foster

Clodagh's Father in Flashback (uncredited)

Margaret Scudamore

Clodagh's Grandmother in Flashback (uncredited)

Helen Debroy Summers

Clodagh's Mother in Flashback (uncredited)

Directors

Emeric Pressburger

Michael Powell

Writers

Michael Powell(writer by)

Emeric Pressburger(writer by)

Rumer Godden(novel by)

All cast & crew

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Review

Featured review

**_Stuck between the carnal and the celestial in the southern Himalayas_** A group of well-meaning nuns try to establish a nunnery beyond Darjeeling in northeast India at a dilapidated palace-on-the-heights that used to house a harem. Deborah Kerr plays the Sister Superior while David Farrar appears as the agent to the local prince. Based on the 1939 novel, “Black Narcissus” (1947) is a psychological drama with the interesting milieu of the awe-inspiring northern India. Being shot in the UK, the scenery is a well-done illusion created in the studio via glass shots and hanging miniatures. The backdrops are enlarged B&W photos, which the art department spruced-up with breathtaking colors using pastel chalks. While Kerr’s beauty is showcased in the flashbacks, it’s Kathleen Byron who stands out on this front in the last act; she’s breathtaking. Meanwhile Jean Simmons is fetching as a native lass who catches the attentions of the “general” (Sabu); she was only 17 during shooting. On the other side of the spectrum, Farrar does well as the hairy-chested sigma male. The sets, backdrops and cast are a visual delight, yet the subtexts on the human condition in a fallen world are just as interesting. All of us have to walk the balance beam between the profane and the precious, settling where we think best at any moment. It’s no coincidence that Clodagh (Kerr) and Ruth (Bryon) are similar-looking redheads underneath their habits and they’re both in an unspoken competition with their carnal side stirred by a certain person. “Black Narcissus” wisely takes the lowkey route. We know what’s going on underneath the surface, but it’s not spelled out. Lesser flicks require a passionate sex scene to ‘wow’ the viewer whereas this one opts for the simple-but-potent clasping of hands. The movie runs 1 hour, 41 minutes, and was shot at Pinewood Studios, west of London, with some forest scenes done south of London in Lower Beeding, Horsham, West Sussex. The Ireland sequences were shot in County Galway on the Emerald Isle. GRADE: B+/A-

Wuchak11 Dec, 2023