Country: U.K.
Genre(s): Drama
Director: Michael
Powell / Emeric Pressburger
Cast: Deborah Kerr
/ David Farrar / Kathleen Byron
Plot
Catholic nuns travel
to the Himalayas to convert the local villagers, but find that instead it is
their faiths that are put to the test.
What I Liked
As “Black Narcissus”
progresses, the most admirable thing about the film becomes the filmmakers’
extraordinary use of light and color to accent the emotions of the movie. Indeed nearly every shot has the appearance
of a painted masterpiece. Of course,
much of the natural backdrops are in fact paintings. However, those are not the masterpieces to which I refer. The most astonishing visuals are
those that happen in and around the palace which the nuns have converted into a
convent. The sun and moon light coming through
the ornate windows, the flickering candle light on the walls, and the colorful,
erotic murals on those walls all suggest a taboo elegance and sensuousness, functioning
as the lifeblood of the film.
Deborah Kerr and
Kathleen Byron both give mature, fleshed-out performances as two nuns at odds
with each other, each secretly struggling with her own passions and
desires. Kerr’s austere Sister Clodagh
cannot hide the gentleness and soulfulness that shines from her radiant
eyes. While Byron portrays an
emotionally fragile, romantically obsessed Sister Ruth, her face constantly
contorted in the agonies of confusion, jealousy, and lust. Though the cast features several other stars
of the day, including an exquisitely feral Jean Simmons, it is the character
development embodied in Kerr and Byron that is the source of the films drama.
What I Didn’t Like
Maybe I just wasn’t as in the mood for a movie as I initially thought myself to be, but it took me some time to get
involved in this film. It took me a long
time to get emotionally invested in the characters and their mission. However, once I began to take notice of the
beautiful cinematography and the changes in sisters Clodagh and Ruth, I did
become more engaged, particularly as the plot moved toward it’s highly
suspenseful climax.
Most Memorable Scene
That climax plays out
like the closing to an excellent horror film, as Sister Ruth stalks Sister
Clodagh through the palace. Sister
Clodagh knows she is in great danger but refuses to abandon her duties to God,
the village, and her fellow nuns, a potential martyr. Byron is particularly devastating here as Sister
Ruth, darting and jumping through the shadows and shafts of light like a cat,
her eyes pulsating with madness.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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