Product Details

• Released on: 2002-10-01
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: NTSC, Import
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Dimensions: .40 pounds
• Running time: 100 minutes

From Amazon.com
Appropriately enough for a picture named for a flower, Black Narcissus exists in a color-drenched, hothouse atmosphere. The setting is a nunnery in the Himalayas, where sister Deborah Kerr has her hands full with an envious nun (the remarkable Kathleen Byron) and a sardonic Englishman (David Farrar). Director Michael Powell and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger, the team responsible for the mid-forties masterpieces A Stairway to Heaven and The Red Shoes, decided to shoot Black Narcissus entirely in the studio, so they could create their own controlled, slightly unreal world. The choice paid off, as both art director Alfred Junge and cinematographer Jack Cardiff won Oscars for their blazing Technicolor work. The climactic sequence--a murder attempt on the cliffs of the cloister--bears special attention, as Powell "set" the sequence to a preexisting musical track, staging it as though it were a piece of visual choreography. Adding a bit of behind-the-scenes tension to the production was the fact that Kerr was the director's ex-mistress, and Byron his current one. "It was a situation not uncommon in show business, I was told," he later wrote, "but it was new to me." --Robert Horton

Video Details
Plagued by uncertainties and worldly desires, five Protestant missionary nuns, led by Deborah Kerr's Sister Clodagh, struggle to establish a school in the desolate Himalayas. All the elements of cinematic arts are perfectly fused in Powell and Pressburger's fascinating study of the age-old conflict between the spirit and the flesh, set against the grandeur of the snowcapped peaks of Kanchenjunga. Criterion is proud to present Black Narcissus in a new Special Edition.

Review
The casual perception of the British film industry is that it's a mere shadow of its American counterpart, especially where dramas and adventure films are concerned. That was doubly true during World War II, when even the best directors in England were hampered by low production values. The writer-producer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger -- known corporately as "The Archers" -- did their best to change that perception, and nowhere did they challenge it more forcefully than with Black Narcissus. The 1947 film, based on a novel by Rumer Godden, was so startlingly beautiful, intense yet quietly dramatic and fiercely sexual, that it managed to get censored at the behest of the Catholic Legion of Decency and, yet, even in that censored form, earned a brace of Academy Awards. The film was startlingly unusual for 1947: its plot centers around a group of Anglican nuns who, due to their own psychological and sexual shortcomings, fail to found a convent at the foot of the Himalayas. Over the decades, Black Narcissus has managed to hold its audience and find new admirers -- in the 1980s, 13 minutes that had been censored from the American version finally came to light in a new print of the film. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Customer Reviews

Great Photograghy!!
Great coluors , views;a bit dark ,at times but overall a fine print. The only wish that the description offerred at the end of the DVD had been transcribed into English. Good story and GREAT AUDIO which had been expand into a pseudo-5.1,fom the original MONO.
Edward Kerr
iegolden@shaw.ca

A strangely wonderful film
One day, while I was washing the dishes, I turned on the TV and started flipping through channels, landing on "Black Narcissus", which was just ending. I had tuned in to the big climax, so I, of course, didn't fully understand what was going on, but after seeing the ending I thought, "I have to see this movie!!!" I was mesmerized by the images, the music, the acting, everything! Luckily, the same channel was rerunning the film later that night, so I was able to tape it and watch it the next day.

"Black Narcissus" is truly a cinematic classic. It won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, and it is no wonder. The recreation of Mopu Palace on the mountain with its incredible drop are amazing and very realistic, especially for the 1940s. There are so many scenes that I love, but I don't want to give away the plot. The climactic ending is incredible, as is the "lipstick" scene between Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron)and Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr). I also love Sister Clodagh's flashback scenes, especially the one where Sister Clodagh's face is superimposed on the face of the character as a young woman, before she became a nun, telling the man she loves "I want to stay like this the rest of my life". A poignant moment when we realize that she became a nun to escape the shame of a failed love affair.

The movie can be rather strange at times; I found May Hallatt's character to be overdone in certain scenes, but at other times she is brilliant. Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth is unforgettable, and Deborah Kerr is excellent, as usual. All the actors are quite good in their roles.

I wouldn't say that this movie is for everyone, but if you like good cinema, then give it a try.

an unusual slow paced film.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

In my opinion, this film's plot was kind of boring and slow.

In compensation however, the film has excellent matte shots and and well made scenery imitating the Himalayas. It is very hard to believe that the movie was made entirely in the British Isles.

The film is about fuve nuns who open a school and hospital in a remote region of the Himalaya mountains. Their efforts are plagued with many troubles and the results are disasterous.

The film also sparked a controversey with the Catholic Church's Leigon of Decency upon it's release in the US and as a result, a scene was cut for the US release. As a non-Catholic Christian, I am very glad that the Legion of Decency no longer censors films in the US because I strongly oppose many teachings of the Catholic church and their views could have caused many Protestant films to be banned as anti-Catholic.

I did not find anything offensive in this film but can see why Catholics might.

The special features are good and one of them is excellent.
There is a theatrical trailer, production photos, photos of cut scene, and audio commentary by Michael Powell and Martin Scorsese. The other feature which I really like is a 27 minute documentary "Painting with Light" which is about the technicolor canera and the cinematography of the film. The documentary also has a visual "tour" of the different parts of the technicolor video camera.

The film remains a classic, though not one of my favorites.