Black Narcissus

Starring: Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird, Judith Furse, Kathleen Byron, Esmond Knight, Sabu, Jean Simmons, May Hallatt, Nancy Roberts
Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Comedy
1947

Times Seen:
Tim: 1


Summary: A group of nuns attempt to establish a convent high in the Himalayas, but face a series of obstacles.

Review:

Tim: I find Black Narcissus to be a fascinating film. It still feels odd to me, that a movie like this was made in 1947. I recognize that a great deal of this has to do with it being a British film, less focused on some of the censorship issues America was dealing with (this film would have plenty of censorship issues as it tried to find opportunities to play in the states). The movie is often beautiful and while it doesn't quite reach "greatness" in my mind, there's many great individual things about it. This is an exceptionally strong film and it deserves to be celebrated, regardless of my final score.

I have to start this movie by talking about the visuals. They are nothing short of astounding. The cinematography and the art direction are superb. The backdrops are stunning. This is one of the most visually impressive films of the 1940s. I can't even describe how much I loved the look of this movie. Perhaps not surprisingly, the film did win 2 Academy Awards- Best Cinematography, Color and Best Art Direction-Set Director, Color. It's deeply deserving of both those awards. Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger create a gorgeous film that really showcases the daunting beauty of the Himalayas. The backdrops were beautifully constructed and add so much to the film. The landscape here feels as much of a character as any of the people. It looms large continuously throughout the film. You never forget for a second where the story is taking place. Jack Cardiff's cinematography is among the best I have ever seen and I'm so glad he won an Academy Award for his work here. The standout for me is the bell ringing scene. There's many options, but this one was startling in its depiction of vertigo-inducing heights. That is the image that most firmly sits in my mind as I recall this film. That scene alone is worth the price of admission.

It helps that the cast is quite good, too. Deborah Kerr is excellent in the lead role as the newly minted Sister Superior. Kerr has made a lot of good films, but I'm not sure she has been better than this, her breakout Hollywood role. Her performance feels authentic, restrained but bubbling with emotion below the surface. I loved her work here, it's truly exceptional. She doesn't get the big breakout moments, but delivers a quietly powerful performance. You can contrast her restrained portrayal with that of Kathleen Byron, given freedom to embrace the cracking mental state of a nun losing her grip on reality. It's big and occasionally boisterous and Byron is often chilling in her portrayal. The closeups with her are uncomfortable. She's so effective here. These two women both give terrific performances.

I thought David Farrar was fine. He's solid in his role, but I feel like a dozen other actors could have done as good of a job, or better. He's effective but unremarkable. It was fun seeing Jean Simmons in a small, early role. The casting feels awkward and unfortunate by today's standards, but she puts in a solid earlier career effort. I thought May Hallatt's performance was terrible. You just watch her mugging for the camera, her entire performance feels over-the-top. You can literally see she knows the camera is on her and that awareness helps to ruin her performance. I disliked almost everything she did in this film. Most of the cast centered their performances in what was believable. She's one of the few exceptions who is so obviously "acting" (if you can call it that). The rest of the cast was fine, but they all fade into the background. This is actually one of my biggest complaints with the film. You have Flora Robson, Jenny Laird, and Judith Furse all giving solid performances, but I couldn't keep their characters straight. They just show up as "those other nuns." One has a medical background, one is a gardener maybe? I honestly think this is a big reason why the movie isn't quite great in my mind. These characters either needed to be more fully developed so that they stood out to us more, were made more memorable; or, they needed their roles cut so we could focus more on the main characters. As is, they exist in this awkward middle ground. The time with them suggests they are important and we should know them, but the movie never follows up on that. Those characters never existed individually in my mind. The movie needed to add 10 minutes to help establish each of them more distinctly.

I do feel like the film got caught up a bit in the visuals and the story maybe suffered a little. I'm not taking anything away from the visual effects- that's by far the best part of the movie. I do wish we had a bit more character development. I never really established much of an emotional connection with these characters. The visuals are breathtaking, but we needed even more time with Kerr, Byron, and the others. That might have elevated the film that last bit to get to greatness. I don't want you to think I'm complaining too vocally, this is still an exceptionally made movie.

That's how I think about Black Narcissus. It's an important, visually stunning movie with a few great performances, but some story and character decisions that ultimately hold it back a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, though. It's fun just to sit and think about that bell scene. It's brilliant. This movie has so many great elements- it's not an easy movie to watch, but one that I would highly suggest viewing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Bells of St. Mary's, The Nun's Story