British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger once again deliberately courted controversy and censorship with their 1947 adaptation of Rumer Godden's novel. Deborah Kerr and Kathleen Byron play the head nuns at an Anglican hospital/school high in the Himalayas. The nuns' well-ordered existence is disturbed by the presence of a handsome British government agent (David Farrar), whose attractiveness gives certain sisters the wrong ideas. Meanwhile, an Indian girl (Jean Simmons) is lured
down the road to perdition by a sensuous general (Sabu). While Kerr would seem most susceptible to fall from grace --we are given hints of her earlier love life in a long flashback--she proves to have more stamina than Byron, who delivers one of moviedom's classic interpretations of all-stops-out, sex-starved insanity. The aforementioned flashback was removed from the US release version of Black Narcissus so as not to offend the Catholic Legion of Decency. While the dramatic content of the film hasn't stood the test of time all that well, the individual performances, production values, and especially the Oscar-winning Technicolor photography of Jack Cardiff are still as impressive as ever. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Production has gained much through being in color. The production and camerawork atone for minor lapses in the story, Jack Cardiff's photography being outstanding.
While Messrs. Powell and Pressburger may have a picture that will disturb and antagonize some, they also have in Black Narcissus an artistic accomplishment of no small proportions.
Black Narcissus is sound, hue, and shadow as holistic dramaturgy, and it's doubtful that film can look or feel any more sensitively accomplished. I have the same doubts about Blu-ray.
Theatre this Michael Powell film most certainly is, as stressed by the gothic melodrama of the story and the acting, the studio setting with its beautiful backdrops and vivid colours and the most deliberate of characters and events.
In a breakthrough role as the new nun, Deborah Kerr heads a superb cast, including Flora Robson and Jean Simmons, in one of the most stunning color films ever made, deservedly winning the Oscars for cinematography and art design.
Visually, viscerally and, dare I say it, 'spiritually' breathtaking.
January 18, 2009
Randy Tippy
Super Reviewer
From a visual standpoint, this is completely flawless and ahead of its time in so many ways. The set design is just so detailed and colorful in a way that is believable, yet breathtaking. No one can also forget the classic bell ringing shot; that's perfection if I ever saw it. However, the character development and
storytelling is in some ways a little goofy now. The costume designer for Dean must have never seen how human beings dress because he looks absolutely ridiculous. It also doesn't help that this movie is riddled with brown face and slightly racist characters. I do think that Deborah Kerr and Jean Simmons' performances and character dynamics hold up almost effortlessly, it's almost bizarre.
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