Le narcisse noir

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".

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.

Group of Anglican nuns are sent to the Himalayans to start a convent/school/hospital in an old palace which used to be a House of Ill Repute. Quickly, the strange locale, the constant winds, and the appearances of a strapping handyman sends two of the sisters to distraction. Gripping drama from Powell and Pressburger has moments of sly humor, incredible beauty. Some of the close-ups (as when Sister Superior Deborah Kerr remembers fox-hunting in her youth, or when Sister Ruth discloses her desires of the flesh) are fascinating, almost surreal, and the finale is a wind-whipping frenzy of emotional overload. A few characters--such as Sabu's General and Jean Simmons' young tart--are not expanded upon and simply evaporate, but the film is still a stunner, depicting need and survival with colorful, melodramatic flourish. ***1/2 from ****

Deborah Kerr is designated to establish a convent in the Himalayas at a remote cliffside dwelling, a palace of dubious origin. She takes her assignment seriously and faces strange customs and unfamiliar peoples as well as a harsh climate. There are inner struggles as well, and Kerr is excellent at revealing these. Huge closeups reveal what her character is supposedly thinking as she peers at others, often in unspoken disapproval of their actions, particularly David Farrar, Jean Simmons (as an Indian girl), and Kathleen Byron--who gives the film's most urgent performance as the distraught nun with worldly pleasures on her mind. Kerr gives a faultless performance, the mainstay of the film, since most of the story is seen from her viewpoint.

The striking color photography and set decoration were rightfully awarded Oscars. A haunting, powerful study of the effects of loneliness and isolation on a group of nuns--and what happens when one of them goes beserk. The struggle between the two nuns at the bell tower is one of the most gripping climaxes ever. A richly detailed British film with a windswept atmosphere all its own.