BLACK NARCISSUS

Michael Powell, 1947

Black Narcissus religious drama film by Michael Powell and

Emeric Pressburger made in 1947, based on a novel by Rumer
Godden, 1939. Its a film about the emotional tensions of
jealousy and lust, which tells the story of a group of nuns
assigned to a remote palace near the Himalayas. Their mission
is to form a school and hospital to develop the Indian citizens.
Black Narcissus was rewarded and greatly appreciated for its
pioneering technical achievements, with the work of the
cinematographer Jack Cardiff, shooting in vibrant colour in
order to make the scenes more dramatic, winning an Academy
Award for Best Cinematography and a Golden Globe Award for
Best Cinematography. The art director Alfred Junge was
awarded with an Academy Award for Best Art Direction.
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, 2002.

Fig. 1 Movie Poster

The Sister Superior and head of the group is Sister Clodagh

(Deborah Kerr). Upon arrival , aside the fact that the nuns are
supposed to live and transform a place which previously was a
brothel, judging by the sculptures and paintings along the
walls, they have to work with the handsome British agent
named Dean (David Farrar), who is sceptical of any efforts to
'modernize' the Indian citizens. Maybe Dean is right and he can
see clearly that these nuns do not belong there. Without a
doubt the nuns mission cannot be successful. The reason for it
pretty plain they do not speak the local language, so how can
they teach when they themselves need to be taught how to
speak Indian in order to teach English and basic knowledge
about the world and whatnot. This mission is even a bit
naivee. This gives an example of how a religious person would Fig. 2 Movie Scene
accept his mission, without questioning it.

Its almost as if the religion states that the grass is red, regardless that science would prove wrong, the religious person
would accept it for ultimate truth, rejecting the reality. It is indeed in a way shown how these nuns live in their own
separate world of limitations for a Holly cause, trying to help and change the bigger world, outside theirs. However, in
this movie the religion of these nuns is being put to the test. They are set outside their world or righteousness and
holiness, into a place where sins were committed. They are being reminded of the life they had before they put it aside
for a greater cause. The point of their sacrifice is that they are doing good, giving example to others, teaching them
how to be good and kind. It is known, however, that once you have tasted something forbidden, you cannot forget its
taste no matter how hard you try, so its easier to forget something you have never had nor tasted.

Beside helping the nuns understand the locals,

Dean has another role, which is his look and
aura. He seems to be flirting in a indirect way
with the Sister Superior. His charms seem to
have some effect on Sister Clodagh, but they
also trigger the buried passions of Sister Ruth
(Kathleen Byron) whos jealousy of her superior
seems to be increasing by the second. Every time
Dean comes into the scene Sister Ruth seems to
be always looking towards him, trying to get his
attention onto her and not on her Superior. Its
an interesting fact that Sister Ruth was sent to
this place to heal, because she always have
been a problematic nun. Unfortunately this place
Fig. 3 Movie Scene
did just the opposite for her.
The place overall and the environment seems to have an effect on all five nuns, reminding them of their past lives. They
way its being shown in the movie is symbolic. The way they are being put to the test is through the people they meet
and the satiations they have to solve or the nuns actions themselves. It's holiness against the libido, civility against the
wild, control vs. desire, Mirasol, 2010. For instance when one of the sisters who is supposed to plant vegetables for
food, gets distracted and plants flowers instead, putting the nuns survival in danger. Or when Dean brings in an Indian
naughty girl, who has given herself to pleasure, which the nuns have to bring back on the right path. The moment she
sees the young Indian General (Sabu Dastagir), a peacock as the nuns describe him, she constantly tries to get his
attention throughout the movie.

The villain of this film is Sister Ruth who commits several sins,
forbidden in her religion, which are unforgivable. For a single
man she throws away her religion, falls into jealousy, desires
what another has, gives in to please. All she does, is to the
pleasure and passion she seeks, not for Dean himself. She
throws away everything she has, puts on red lipstick following
onto the Devils side and running into the wood all the way to
Deans house, where she gets rejected by him. She then runs
back to the house on the hill driven by anger, If I wont have
him, no one will. In the ending scene when she tries to kill
Sister Clodagh, she ends up falling off the cliff. Maybe it was
her God, who punished her for her sins.
Fig. 4 Movie Scene
I like to view it as a film ahead of its time, daring enough to look puritanical figures that are in truth as frail as anyone;
confronting their demons and the burdens of reality. It has all of the three central conflicts every story should have,
man against the world, man against man, and man against himself., Mirasol, 2010. Its indeed a film symbolically
discussing a lot of complex topics, which are in fact everyday battles for a lot of people. Nobody is protected from their
passions and needs, even if its against their believes and restriction from something because it is considered bad isnt
really the best solution.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Narcissus#cite_note-1 accessed on 06/12/2015
Michael Mirasol, 2010, RogerEbert.com; http://www.rogerebert.com/far-flung-correspondents/blacknarcissus-which-electrified-scorsese accessed on 06/12/2015
IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039192/ accessed on 06/12/2015

ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig. 1 Poster http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Images/47_BN/BN-Germany.jpg accessed on 06/12/2015
Fig. 2 Scene from the film
http://www.pamm.org/sites/default/files/styles/carousel_page/public/black_narcissus_film_still_4.jpg?itok=n
AdDLWNu accessed on 06/12/2015
Fig. 3 Scene from the film https://videokrypt.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/black-narcissus-3.png accessed on
06/12/2015
Fig. 4 Scene from the film http://offscreen.com/images/Narcissus_Ruth_CUEyes_hires.jpg accessed on
06/12/2015