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Deborah Kerr, Sabú, David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Esmond Knight ... see more see more... , Flora Robson , Jean Simmons , Jenny Laird , Judith Furse , Shaun Noble , Eddie Whaley Jr. , Nancy Roberts , May Hallatt , Ley On

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 ... read more read more...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

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Unrated, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Release Date: August 1, 1947

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DVD Release Date: January 30, 2001

Stats: 530 reviews

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Bell Ringing Black Narcissus Sister Ruth on the verge... Kathleen Byron "Black Narcissus" Kathleen Byron "Black Narcissus"
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Flixster Reviews (530)

  • bottcorecords1
    May 16, 2012
    bottcorecords1
    Nuns on a mountain? Heck yes! Glorious technicolor mountains (colored in with pastel chalks, according to IMDB) where a veritable fortress hides in the Himalayas. The sisters are sent there to administer medicine to the local population (although the local population is highly... read more superstitious of them). The only friend they have waiting there for them is Mr. Dean (David Farrar), assistant to the General. Ironically, this "palace" was originally built to house the original General's many wives (and now it houses the brides of Christ). It's not long before the isolation begins playing at the minds of the nuns and they begin to have doubts of faith.

    The technicolor illusions created in this film were said to be inspired by the dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, and the amazingly vivid and colorful backdrops are almost worth the price of admission alone. The film is practically a painting come to life. The story of the nuns is amusing and sometimes frightening and directed with a real flair by writers/directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It is deservedly one of the top films of it's decade.
  • flixsterman
    January 2, 2012
    flixsterman
    Visually, viscerally and, dare I say it, 'spiritually' breathtaking.
  • ythelastman89
    March 19, 2011
    ythelastman89
    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. Ho... read morewever, 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.
  • FilmFanatik
    February 17, 2011
    FilmFanatik
    Another masterwork from Powell and Pressburger, but more importantly, Jack Cardiff (director of photography). Again, bathed in color with the three strip Technicolor process, it's a marvel even by today's standards. I'm becoming a big fan of this duo of filmmakers. They have i... read morempressed and entertained me immensely so far.
  • matertenebraum
    February 10, 2011
    matertenebraum
    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 i... read morenclement 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.
  • mumby1988
    December 20, 2010
    mumby1988
    The two worst devices in film criticism are nostalgia and the arrogance of youth. On the one hand it is foolish to assume that all films from the past have a natural superiority over those made today, just as it is foolish to say that a hand-written letter is entirely superior to... read more e-mail. On the other hand, in an age where almost anything can be said or done legally on screen, it is stupid to assume that a film like Black Narcissus doesn't still hold up.

    At first glance, Black Narcissus would seem like a lot of other melodramas released around the Second World War: emotionally shallow, overly simple, badly constructed and ultimately dull. But after its off-putting theatrical opening, the film quickly begins to defy our expectations and serves up a lot more in the way of both style and substance. What starts off shakily ends up as a brilliantly gripping, intense psychological thriller with great performance and stunning expressionist visuals.

    To give credit to the cynics, the opening ten minutes are a little uneven. Their style is much more quirky and offbeat than we would expect from Powell and Pressburger, even considering the level of quaintness in A Canterbury Tale. May Hallatt's role as the elderly caretaker is very off-balance in both her performance and its surroundings. The opening is also laden with exposition, and as the camera lingers on the luxurious décor of this former seraglio, we struggle to engage with our surroundings for more than a few moments.

    Once the nuns arrive, however, the film takes off and you forgive all its subsequent quirks of fate. The film is a visual delight, with Jack Cardiff's Oscar-winning cinematography bringing real character to both the costumes and the architecture. Most Technicolor films are praised for how bright their primary colours are, but in Black Narcissus what sticks with you is the white on screen, from the shimmering robes of the nuns to the pale walls of the convent and the flickering candles in between. The production design is so effective that you soon forget that all of this was shoot at Pinewood Studios, and all the vistas of the Himalayas are either murals or matte paintings.

    Black Narcissus is an intriguing exploration of sexual repression, made intriguing by its relative subtlety and understatement. Some of this is down to the context in which the film was made; even though Powell considered it "his most erotic movie", there is no open consummation of love or lust, and if such scenes had been attempted they would never have got passed the censors. But most of it is down to Powell's brilliant camerawork and Pressburger's slow-burning script. The camera is fixed on the nuns' faces to reveal every little twitch or slight smile that reveal more than words ever could.

    The film explores sexual repression through a number of interesting opposites. The most obvious of these is the relationship between Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) and Mr. Dean (Roger Farrar). The camera treats these two characters very differently: when Clodagh is in shot, the camera focuses on her face and she is never seen out of her habit, to show her purity and resilience. With Mr. Dean, on the other hand, we get to see a whole lot more: there are many wide shots of him stomping around in short shorts, and at least one close-up on his hairy chest. Farrar is the antithesis of everything Clodagh stand for - wild at heart, uncouth, unkempt, and massively attractive.

    Under these circumstances, the easy thing would be to focus solely on the rivalry between these two characters and end up with Sister Clodagh resigning from the order to be with him. But Pressburger is too clever to let that happen, and instead the story plays out like a duel of principles with the prize being right rather than being in love. Both Dean and Clodagh are established as intelligent, determined and resourceful characters whose conflict comes primarily from a conflict of opinion rather than a botched desire to suppress Freudian urges.

    As the plot develops and Sister Ruth becomes a more prominent character, we begin to understand the intelligence behind this decision. For most of the film in which Sister Ruth plays no massive part, we are led to believe that Dean is an obstacle to the nuns' success, someone whose disregard for their religion and way of life threatens both the success of the convent and the purity of their order. But once we discover Ruth's fate, we realise that the source of evil or temptation was not so much Dean as the nuns' perception of him. In the eyes of the film, temptation is not something that comes from 'out there', beyond the safety of Christian walls. It is inside of all of us, and more often than not we drive ourselves to give into it.

    If we think of Black Narcissus as a version of Adam and Eve, that helps to illuminate its spiritual and psychological theses. At the beginning we believe that the convent is like Eden, a safe, perfect place surrounded by a strange land, and with Dean as the serpent who enters the Garden bringing temptation with him. But after we see what has happened to Ruth, the story departs from this in one of two ways. Either we are still seeing a Christian myth play out, but with more emphasis on perception and delusion than on physical evil. Or what we are seeing is something more humanist, where the evil is simply the torment of opposites coming together under one roof.

    The key scene in Black Narcissus comes when Sister Clodagh stumbles into a room and finds Sister Ruth wearing a dress and red lipstick, looking immensely proud and increasingly wanton. Here we have opposing depictions of womanhood: one is intensely sexual to the point of madness, the other pure and virginal but also naïve. Both Clodagh and Ruth are driven by a kind of faith - Clodagh by her belief in God and her need to prove herself, and Ruth by her belief that Dean loves her and that no-one must stand in her way. When Dean spurns her, shouting "I don't love anyone!", it is as much a loss of faith as Clodagh's departure, if not moreso.

    Fantasy plays a prominent part in Black Narcissus. Throughout the story we see flashback to Clodagh's youth in Ireland, and slowly realise her motivation behind becoming a nun. She remembers the man she loved through objects; the emeralds worn by the general's son remind her of those given to her for her wedding day which never took place. These scenes were banned when the film was first released, presumably because of its insinuation that nuns were simply failed lovers, women who didn't measure up to the men of this world. And then we have the ending, which takes us straight to the heart of expressionist horror. The way in which the screen turns red as Sister Ruth faints, or the terrifying close-ups of her eyes, foreshadow the great work of Dario Argento in Suspiria.

    The film also has a strong but subtle political elements. The film was released around the time of India's independence from Britain, and its final scenes have been interpreted as Britain trying to make a dignified exit from a land it could neither control nor understand. The culture clash between different religions (in this case Christianity and Hinduism) is played out very subtly, and foreshadows the more frightening and hysterical clashes in The Devils and The Wicker Man. Crucially, the film doesn't fall into the imperialist trap of portraying the British as wholly rational and the 'natives' as overtly savage. As the nuns start to disintegrate and more intelligent Indian characters come forward, such accusations become redundant.

    Black Narcissus is a great effort from Powell and Pressburger which is almost up there with The Red Shoes. The performances are superb, with Deborah Kerr managing to seem composed and conflicted simultaneously and Kathleen Byron scaring us to death as Sister Ruth. The film remains visually astounding, the script is subtle even in its maddest moments, and there is enough tension and brains bubbling beneath the surface to keep anyone enthralled. A hugely compelling piece and a must-see for thriller fans.
  • pier007
    November 6, 2010
    pier007
    Another cumulous of the talent of filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

    The arrival into the imponent temple on the mountain arouses various kinds of intense emotions among the members of the convent of saint mary. Feelings that quest... read moreion their loyalty to their beliefs and way of living. Especially in the already unstable sister Ruth, who is almost an evil twin or doppelganger of the righteous Sister Clodagh.

    An oeuvre of exotism, clash of cultures and above the rest unpolluted visual beauty, of fascinating luminic and cromatic contrasts.

    I think I'll never have the pleasure to see in real life a nun as sweet and pretty as Ms. Deborah Kerr.
  • SirPant
    September 27, 2010
    SirPant
    Black Narcissus is a beautiful film. 90% of the credit has to go to Jack Cardiff (I met him in 2005) for his brilliant cinematography though as the rest of the film feels a little dated now. Not surprising reallly as the film is over 60 years old but the melodrama can be a little... read more too OTT at times. I'll probibly get greif for this but I'd quite like to see a remake!
  • Saxia
    July 25, 2010
    Saxia
    Visually stunning!
    ... read moreref="http://www.flixster.com">
  • rubystevens
    May 27, 2009
    rubystevens
    it's magnificent. a good part of the credit must go to jack cardiff's oscar winning cinematography. his career spanned 8 decades and dozens of films including his long collaboration with powell and pressburger. one of the great cinematographers of all time, cardiff died last m... read moreonth at the age of 94. rip

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Critic Reviews

Dave Kehr
March 23, 2010
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Powell's equally extravagant visual style transforms it into a landscape of the mind -- grand and terrible in its thorough abstraction. Full Review

Variety Staff
March 26, 2009
Variety Staff, Variety

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. Full Review

Thomas M. Pryor
May 20, 2003
Thomas M. Pryor, New York Times

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. Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
August 5, 2010
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

A 1947 English film classic about the challenges of desire faced by some nuns in a new mission in the Himalayas. Full Review

Christopher Long
July 22, 2010
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis

Colonial hubris nunsploitation = an unforgettable movie. Full Review

Peter Bradshaw
March 23, 2010
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

Run, don't walk to see this 1947 classic from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Full Review

March 23, 2010
Film4

Powell and Pressburger created a film that still feels light years ahead of the opposition. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
September 26, 2006
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

You could say it's the most sensual nun movie ever made. Full Review

Dave Calhoun
June 24, 2006
Dave Calhoun, Time Out

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 deli... Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
September 19, 2005
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

It might be the most beautiful film ever done in Technicolor. Full Review

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  • What do The Sound of Music, Black Narcissus, Sister Act and Two Mules for Sister Sara have in common?  Answer »
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