Black Narcissus

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For the 1939 novel from which the film was made, see Rumer Godden. For other uses, see Black Narcissus (disambiguation).

Black Narcissus
Blacknar.jpg
Theatrical poster
Directed by
Produced by
  • Michael Powell
  • Emeric Pressburger
Screenplay by
  • Michael Powell
  • Emeric Pressburger
Based onBlack Narcissus
by Rumer Godden
Starring
Music byBrian Easdale
CinematographyJack Cardiff
Edited byReginald Mills
Distributed by
Release date
  • 4 May 1947 (1947-05-04) (UK)[1]
  • 13 August 1947 (1947-08-13) (US)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£280,000 (or $1.2 million[2]) or £351,494[3]

Black Narcissus is a 1947 British psychological drama film written, produced, and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and starring Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, Sabu, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Esmond Knight, and Jean Simmons. The title refers to the Caron perfume Narcisse noir. Based on the 1939 novel by Rumer Godden, the film revolves around the growing tensions within a small convent of Anglican nuns who are trying to establish a school and hospital in an old palace on an isolated mountain above a fertile valley in the Himalayas. Although some of the publicity makes it sound as if the nuns all fall in love with the same man and compete for his affections, the truth is much more complicated. One mentally ill sister does harbor a grand—and ultimately fatal—passion for the handsome libertine British expatriate who is agent for the local potentate, but he is completely unaware of her feelings until the end of the film. Her paranoid delusions embrace everyone around her and she becomes insanely envious of one sister. In fact, the greatest challenges to the nuns' work come from the place itself and the unfamiliar people they have come to serve.

Black Narcissus achieved acclaim for its pioneering technical mastery with the cinematographer, Jack Cardiff, shooting in vibrant colour, winning an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography, and Alfred Junge winning an Academy Award for Best Art Direction.[4][5]

According to film critic David Thomson, "Black Narcissus is that rare thing, an erotic English film about the fantasies of nuns, startling whenever Kathleen Byron is involved".[6]

Plot[edit]

An order of Anglican nuns has been invited by the Rajput ruler of a princely state, General Toda Rai, (Esmond Knight) to set up a school and hospital in the dilapidated seraglio where his father kept his women, high on a cliff in the Himalayas. Mr. Dean (David Farrar) the handsome, well-educated and dissolute British expatriate who is Toda Rai's agent in the district, makes the difficulties plain in his letter to Mother Dorothea (Nancy Roberts ) describing the place. To the nuns when they arrive, he says: "I give you until the rains break."

Sister Clodagh has been appointed Sister Superior. Mother Dorothea sends four nuns with her: Sister Philippa (Flora Robson ) for the garden; Sister Briony (Judith Furse ) for the infirmary; Sister Blanche, better known as "Sister Honey" (Jenny Laird ) who will teach lacemaking and Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron ), who will teach and regain her health. At Mopu it is Sister Ruth's duty to ring the bell for the hours of the divine office. The bell hangs from a frame with a stone mounting block below it, set at the edge of a precipice. Sister Ruth smiles at the sheer drop at her feet and at the horns sounding from a monastery on the mountain range facing them, invisible in the snow.

Dean greets the sisters wearing shorts, sandals, the hat he calls "old feltie", a short-sleeved shirt and an attitude. They soon learn that his help is essential. Among many other things, he is the only reliable plumber in the region. He is also a vital liaison with the local people, Himalayan mountain folk who understand neither Hindi nor English. The language barrier adds greatly to the nuns' isolation. They must rely on the old housekeeper, Angu Ayah (May Hallatt), who dreams of the old days and disrespects them, and on the live-in interpreter sent by Toda Rai: Joseph Anthony ( Eddie Whaley Jr.), who is "6 to 11 years old." (He does not have his two front teeth, which suggests that he is 6.)

They all suffer from some form of high altitude sickness, but the incessant wind, the ever- changing light on the snow, the great distances all have a psychological and spiritual impact. Clodagh falls into vivid daydreams about her life in Ireland and of Con (Shaun Noble), the man she hoped to marry. Sister Philippa is so distracted that she doesn't hear the bell. Unknown to the others, Sister Ruth's mental illness intensifies into full-blown paranoia; she becomes obsessed with Dean and pathologically envious of Clodagh.

On a corner of their property, a holy man sits unmoving, devotedly tended by the locals Clodagh wants him removed, but Dean points out that since he is General Sir Krishna Rai, Toda's uncle, that will not happen. When a frustrated Clodagh declares, "I really don't know what to do!," Dean replies, very seriously, "What would Christ have done?"

Dean brings Kanchi (Jean Simmons) a beautiful 17-year-old orphan, to live at the convent long enough for her uncle to arrange a marriage. The Old General's heir dies and the new Young General, Dilip Rai (Sabu Dastagir) appears and convinces Clodagh to admit him as a student. He was to go to Cambridge but now, Dean says, "He will be a warrior and marry young." The nuns are fascinated by Dilip's fine array, as well as the Caron perfume he wears, Narcisse noir ("Black narcissus"). Dean warns Clodagh there may be trouble with Kanchi, and when she scoffs he observes that the girl has probably heard the story of the Prince and the Beggarmaid.

On Christmas Eve, Dean and Dilip come late to the midnight carol service at the convent. (There is no ordained minister to preside over a Eucharist.) Dean's baritone adds harmony, but as he leaves it becomes clear that he is drunk. Clodagh chastises him, but he rides away unfazed, singing "I won't be a nun!" and calling Happy Christmas!

Spring comes, bringing trouble. Ruth decides that she will not renew her vows. They discover that Sister Philippa planted flowers instead of vegetables; she asks for immediate transfer. It will be a black mark, but she tells Clodagh that it is what she needs. Kanchi steals a brass chain, and Dilip rides up while Ayah is beating her. Ayah tells him to finish the beating and become a man like his grandfather. Instead, Dilip puts one of his gold chains around Kanchi's neck, and she puts her head on his shoulder. They disappear together.

Dean had warned Sister Briony not to treat anyone who was seriously ill. Now, a woman brings her sick baby to the infirmary, and Sister Briony gently sends her home. Sister Honey is distraught. The next day, no one comes to the convent, and Joseph admits that the baby died; everyone believes the Smiling Lemini (Sister Honey) is to blame because she gave the mother medicine. Clodagh tolls the bell, alerting Dean. Eventually he appears and tells them he drank the medicine—castor oil—proving it was harmless, but things are very bad. The villagers murdered the agent before him with less cause.

That night, Sister Clodagh finds Ruth preparing to go to Dean, dressed in red. She begs her to wait until morning but, when Clodagh falls asleep over her breviary, Ruth runs away, laughing wildly. The nuns search the convent in vain. In Mr. Dean's bungalow, Ruth proclaims her love, but when he shouts, "I don't love anyone!," the screen turns red as her rage overcomes her and she screams "Clodagh" over and over.

When she comes to, her face has changed, beginning a transformation into something feral or demonic. She makes her way back and stalks Clodagh through the convent until she goes out to ring the bell at 6 a.m. Ruth walks slowly toward the oblivious Clodagh, then lunges to push her over the edge. In a brief, desperate struggle, Clodagh pulls herself to safety and Ruth falls to her death.

The gardens are in full bloom and the nuns are packing. Dilip appears to say how sorry he is about Ruth. He has asked Dean how to confess what he did wrong; Dean said to tell Sister Clodagh that it was "The Story of the Prince and the Beggar-maid."

Down in the valley, Dean comes to say goodbye to Clodagh and asks what will happen to her. She will be given fewer responsibilities; echoing Sister Philippa's words to her, she adds, "It's what I need." She makes one final request: that he tend to Ruth's grave. As the caravan moves away, the first drops of rain fall. Dean watches until the torrential downpour hides everything.

Cast[edit]

Analysis[edit]

Black Narcissus was released only a few months before India achieved independence from Britain in August 1947. Film critic Dave Kehr has suggested that the final images of the film, as the nuns abandon the Himalayas and proceed down the mountain, could have been interpreted by British viewers in 1947 as 'a last farewell to their fading empire'; he suggests that for the film-makers, it is not an image of defeat 'but of a respectful, rational retreat from something that England never owned and never understood'.[7] The story in the film quite closely follows that of the book, which was written in 1939.

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

Black Narcissus was adapted from writer Rumer Godden's 1939 novel of the same name.[8] Michael Powell was introduced to the novel by actress Mary Morris, who had appeared in the films he did with Emeric Pressburger, The Spy in Black (1939) and The Thief of Bagdad (1940).[9] Godden had adapted her novel for a stage production for Lee Strasberg in the United States, but allowed Pressburger to write his own screenplay adaptation with Powell.[9]

Casting[edit]

Deborah Kerr as Sister Clodagh

Kathleen Byron was among the first to be cast in the film, in the role of the crazed Sister Ruth.[10] Pressburger described Byron as having a "dreamy voice and great eyes like a lynx," which he felt appropriate for the mentally-disturbed character.[10] In the role of the leading Sister Superior, Sister Clodagh, Deborah Kerr was cast.[10] Pressburger chose Kerr for the role at the behest of Powell, who felt she was too young for the part.[10] At one point, Powell considered Greta Garbo for the part.[10] Kerr was paid £16,000 for fifty-five days of work.[11]

David Farrar was cast as Mr. Dean, the virile British agent who becomes the object of Sister Ruth's obsession.[12] Farrar was paid £4,500 for forty-five days of shooting.[11] Flora Robson appears as Sister Philippa, a gardening nun in the convent.[11]

Of the three principal Indian roles, only the Young General was played by an ethnic Indian, Sabu; the roles of Kanchi and the Old General were performed by white actors in make-up.[13] The role of Kanchi was played by Jean Simmons.[14] Kanchi, 17, is described by Godden as "a basket of fruit, piled high and luscious and ready to eat. Though she looks shyly down, there is something steady and unabashed about her; the fruit is there to be eaten, she does not mean it to rot." Godden approved of Simmons' casting, remarking that she "perfectly fulfilled my description."[15] The Indian extras were cast from workers at the docks in Rotherhithe.[16]

Filming[edit]

Before-and-after stills of film; the bottom shows W. Percy Day's incorporated matte painting, creating the illusion of a large cliffside

Filming of Black Narcissus began on 16 May 1946, and completed on 22 August.[17] The film was shot primarily at Pinewood Studios but some scenes were shot in Leonardslee Gardens, West Sussex, the home of an Indian army retiree which had appropriate trees and plants for the Indian setting.[18] While Powell at the time had been known for his love of location shooting, with Black Narcissus, he became fascinated with the idea of shooting as much of the filming in-studio as possible.[19]

The film is famous for making extensive use of matte paintings and large scale landscape paintings (credited to W. Percy Day) to suggest the mountainous environment of the Himalayas as well as some scale models for motion shots of the convent.[20] Powell said later: "Our mountains were painted on glass. We decided to do the whole thing in the studio and that's the way we managed to maintain colour control to the very end. Sometimes in a film its theme or its colour are more important than the plot."

For the costumes, Alfred Junge, the art director, had three main colour schemes. The nuns were always in the white habits that he designed from a medley of medieval types. These white robes of heavy material stressed the nuns' other-worldliness amid the exotic native surroundings. The chief native characters were robed in brilliant colours, particularly the General and his young nephew, in jewels and in rich silks. Other native characters brought into the film merely as 'atmosphere' were clad in more sombre colours with the usual native dress of the Nepalese, Bhutanese and Tibetan peoples toned down to prevent overloading the eye with brilliance.

According to Robert Horton, Powell set the climactic sequence, a murder attempt on the cliffs of the cloister, to a pre-existing musical track, staging it as though it were a piece of visual choreography. Also, there was some personal, behind-the-scenes tension, as Kerr was the director's ex-lover and Byron his current one. "It was a situation not uncommon in show business, I was told," Powell later wrote, "but it was new to me."[21]

Originally the film was intended to end with an additional scene in which Sister Clodagh sobs and blames herself for the convent's failure to Mother Dorothea. Mother Dorothea touches and speaks to Sister Clodagh welcomingly as the latter's tears continue to fall. When they filmed the scene with the rainfall on the leaves in what was to have been the penultimate scene, Powell was so impressed with it that he decided to designate that the last scene and to scrap the Mother Dorothea closing scene. It was filmed but it is not known whether it was printed.[22]

Release[edit]

Box office[edit]

Black Narcissus had its world premiere at the Odeon Theatre in London on 4 May 1947.[1] According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.[23][24] It premiered in the United States on 13 August 1947 in New York City at the Fulton Theatre.[25]

Critical response[edit]

Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth

In the United States, the Catholic National Legion of Decency condemned the film as "an affront to religion and religious life" for characterizing it as "an escape for the abnormal, the neurotic and the frustrated."[26] The version of the film originally shown in the United States had scenes depicting flashbacks of Sister Clodagh's life before becoming a nun edited out at the behest of the Legion of Decency.[27]

The Guardian noted that the film possesses "good acting and skillfully built-up atmosphere," also praising the cinematography.[28] Philip Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times gave the film high praise, deeming it an "exquisite cinematic jewel," continuing: "I can't say how authentic Black Narcissus is, but the lotus land to which it carries us is uniquely unforgettable."[29] Jane Corby of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described the film as a "peculiar recital of religious life" and praised the cinematography, but felt that the "mixed atmosphere of religious seclusion and romantic vagaries is very confusing."[30]

Accolades[edit]

Institution Category Recipient Result Ref.
Academy Awards Best Cinematography Jack Cardiff Won [31]
Best Art Direction Alfred Junge Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Cinematography Jack Cardiff Won
New York Film Critics Circle Best Actress Deborah Kerr Won
Kathleen Byron Nominated [32]

Home media[edit]

The Criterion Collection, an American home media distribution company, released Black Narcissus on laserdisc in the early 1990s, and issued it on DVD in 2002.[33] Noel Murray, writing for The A.V. Club, deemed the 2002 DVD as a "crackerjack release," noting it was a direct copy of the old laserdisc.[33]

In 2008, ITV DVD released a restored version of the film on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom. The Criterion Collection subsequently issued the restored version on DVD and Blu-ray on 20 July 2010.[34] Network Distributing released another Blu-ray edition in the United Kingdom in 2014.[35]

Legacy[edit]

Black Narcissus achieved acclaim for its pioneering technical mastery and shocked audiences at the time of release with its vibrant colour and the themes of the film. Audiences gasped at some of the scenes, notably the shot of the vibrant pink flowers which shown on the big screen was a spectacle at the time.[36] The film's clever use of lighting and techniques have had a profound impact on later film makers, notably Martin Scorsese who used the extreme close-ups of the nuns as the inspiration for the treatment of Tom Cruise's character around the pool table in The Color of Money.[36] Martin Scorsese has said that the film is one of the earliest erotic films, the last quarter of the film in particular.[36] The film was one of his favourites as a boy and Scorsese has stated that one of the greatest experiences he has had with film is viewing Black Narcissus projected on a massive screen at the Director's Guild in 1983. In Michael Powell's own view, this was the most erotic film he ever made. "It is all done by suggestion, but eroticism is in every frame and image from beginning to end. It is a film full of wonderful performances and passion just below the surface, which finally, at the end of the film, erupts".

In The Great British Picture Show, the writer George Perry stated, "Archers films looked better than they were – the location photography in Technicolor by Jack Cardiff in Black Narcissus was a great deal better than the story and lifted the film above the threatening banality". In contrast, the critic Ian Christie wrote in the Radio Times in the 1980s that "unusually for a British film from the emotionally frozen forties the melodrama works so well it almost seems as if Powell and Pressburger survived the slings and barbs of contemporary criticism to find their ideal audience in the 1980s".[37] Marina Warner, introducing the film on BBC2 (on a nun-themed film evening, with Thérèse), called it a masterpiece.

The film's resonance with populations exploring previously stifled sexual desires and expression extends beyond its contemporary milieu of women in the post-war era. Black Narcissus also influenced the themes and aesthetic of the groundbreaking gay experimental film Pink Narcissus, which portrays a series of pornographic vignettes in vivid colour as the fantasies of a prostitute between visits from his keeper.[38] Although Pink Narcissus was lost in obscurity for some time, in recent years it has resurfaced as a cult classic, due in part to the vivid, fantastical aesthetic inspired by Black Narcissus. [39]

The look and cinematography of the 2013 Disney film Frozen was influenced by Black Narcissus. While working on the look and nature of the film's cinematography, Frozen art director Michael Giaimo was greatly influenced by Jack Cardiff's work in Black Narcissus.[40]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Odeon: World Premiere: Black Narcissus". The Guardian. London, England. 29 April 1947. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Pressburger". Variety. 5 November 1947. p. 20.
  3. ^ Macdonald 1994, p. 268.
  4. ^ "1948, Oscars.org, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. AMPAS. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  5. ^ "Black Narcissus, Golden Globes". Golden Globe Award. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  6. ^ David Thomson The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, London: Little, Brown, 2002, p, p.694
  7. ^ Kehr, Dave (29 January 2001). "Black Narcissus]". From the Current. The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  8. ^ Street 2005, pp. 5–8.
  9. ^ a b Street 2005, p. 11.
  10. ^ a b c d e Street 2005, p. 22.
  11. ^ a b c Street 2005, p. 23.
  12. ^ Street 2005, pp. 22–23.
  13. ^ Street 2005, pp. 22–25.
  14. ^ Street 2005, p. 24.
  15. ^ Street 2005, p. 25.
  16. ^ Michael Powell, commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD, ch.6
  17. ^ Street 2005, p. 28.
  18. ^ Powell 1986, p. 562.
  19. ^ Street 2005, p. 12.
  20. ^ Street 2005, pp. 27–30.
  21. ^ Turan, Kenneth (21 September 1997). "Really Big Shoes". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Archived from the original on 9 October 2019.
  22. ^ Crook, Steve. "Lost Scene from Black Narcissus". The Powell & Pressburger Pages. The Powell and Pressburger Appreciation Society. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  23. ^ Murphy 2003, p. 209.
  24. ^ Thumim, Janet. "The popular cash and culture in the postwar British cinema industry". Screen. Vol. 32 no. 3. p. 258.
  25. ^ Slide 1998, p. 38.
  26. ^ "Legion Condemns British Film". The Tablet. Brooklyn, New York City. 16 August 1947. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Black Narcissus: Review". AllMovie. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  28. ^ C. T. (6 May 1947). "Odeon– "Black Narcissus"". The Guardian. London, England. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (19 September 1947). "'Black Narcissus' Exquisite Production". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Corby, Jane (14 August 1947). "'Black Narcissus' at the Fulton". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York City. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ "Black Narcissus – Awards". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012.
  32. ^ Cameron, Kate (30 December 1947). "N.Y. Critics Pick Best Pix of '47". New York Daily News. New York City, New York. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ a b Murray, Noel (19 April 2002). "Black Narcissus (DVD)". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 5 November 2019.
  34. ^ Tyner, Adam (12 July 2010). "Black Narcissus (Blu-ray review)". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2014.
  35. ^ "Black Narcissus Blu-ray review". Cineoutsider. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019.
  36. ^ a b c Black Narcissus (The Criterion Collection) (2001) DVD commentary
  37. ^ Christie 1994.
  38. ^ Ottaviani, Maria. "James Bidgood, the pope of queer culture?". Numero. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  39. ^ Heath, Roderick (14 May 2017). "Pink Narcissus (1971)". Ferdy on Films. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  40. ^ Desowitz, Bill (7 October 2013). "Immersed in Movies: First Look: Designing the Winter Wonderland of "Frozen"". Animation Scoop. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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