Black Narcissus

Title: Black Narcissus: The Criterion Collection

Year: 1947
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Rating: NR
Length: 101 Min.
Video: Full Frame 1.33:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Mono, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Mono
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Deborah Kerr
Flora Robson
Jenny Laird
Judith Furse
Kathleen Byron

Plot:
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 Michael Powell and Emeric 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.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:

The cinematography of Jack Cardiff is quite stunning and Deborah Kerr gives a fine performance in this otherwise slow moving movie of a group of nuns trying to establish a school and hospital at an isolated site 9000 feet high in the Himalayas. The plot is quite predictable, and the climactic scene of the movie was one that I foresaw when the first bell -ringing occurred about 15 minutes in. Kathleen Byron provides some inspired acting and David Farrar plays a credible ne’er-do-good. Not a bad movie for a cold, rainy day.

Rating: