Black Narcissus is a 1947 British psychological drama film written, directed, and produced jointly by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the 1939 novel Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden. It stars Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar, and Flora Robson, and features Esmond Knight, Jean Simmons, and Kathleen Byron.
Set during the final years of British colonial rule in India, the film depicts the growing tensions within a small convent of Anglican nuns who have been invited to establish a school and hospital in the old harem of an Indian Raja at the top of an isolated mountain in the Himalayas. The nuns have trouble adapting to the harsh climate and antagonistic population. They come to rely on the help and advice of the Raja's British agent, a cynical Englishman whose attractiveness and panache become a source of temptation for the sisters.
Black Narcissus received acclaim for its technical mastery, with the cinematographer Jack Cardiff 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.
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".
Plot General Toda Rai, the Rajput ruler of a princely state in the Himalayas, invites an order of Anglican nuns to establish a school and hospital at Mopu, a former harem situated on a high cliff. The ambitious Sister Clodagh is appointed Sister Superior and is sent to Mopu with four other nuns: Sister Philippa for gardening; Sister Briony for the infirmary; Sister Blanche, better known as "Sister Honey", to teach lace-making; and the emotionally unstable Sister Ruth to teach English and maths. All five women are in an unfamiliar, colonial setting.
Mr. Dean, the general's British agent, is deeply sceptical of the project, citing a variety of social and environmental difficulties. He predicts the nuns will leave as soon as the monsoon season begins. It is critical for Clodagh to manage the nuns' well-being, since the Congregation allows every nun to resign at the end of the year.
The sisters struggle to adapt to the local population. The native caretaker, Angu Ayah, dislikes sharing the palace with the nuns. The general's wealthy uncle, now a Hindu holy man, spends all his time meditating on a mountain within the monastery grounds in complete silence. The sisters agree to mentor Kanchi, a local girl with a reputation for erratic behaviour, but Ayah whips her for stealing.
Each convent member starts to experience ill-health and/or emotional problems caused by their surroundings. Clodagh recalls a failed romance which prompted her to leave her home in Ireland and join the order. Ruth grows jealous of Clodagh. Philippa loses herself in the environment and plants the vegetable garden with flowers. Honey's attachment to the local children ends disastrously after she gives ineffective medication to a fatally ill baby. The nuns' failure to save the child's life angers the locals, who abandon the mission. Mr. Dean encourages Clodagh to leave, but she insists on staying.
The sisters also struggle with their vows of chastity. They are constantly tempted by the old harem's erotic wall paintings. In addition, although the sisters planned to educate only girls, they feel compelled to make an exception for the general's boy heir, who needs tutoring in Western culture. He soon falls in love with Kanchi. Ruth grows obsessed with the carnally handsome Mr. Dean and orders an alluring, modern dress to charm him one day. Although Clodagh is irked by Mr. Dean's nonchalance and irreverence, she also finds herself increasingly attracted to him. Philippa requests a transfer to a new convent, complaining that to survive in the colonies, "either you must live like Mr. Dean or like the holy man. Either ignore it or give yourself up to it."
Ruth resigns and announces her intent to go back to Britain. Clodagh visits Ruth to convince her to stay, as the convent is extremely shorthanded. Ruth, who has already changed out of her nun's habit into her new dress, defiantly puts on lipstick in front of Clodagh to signal her personal liberation. She escapes the convent and visits Mr. Dean's house to declare her love, but he rebuffs her advances. Heartbroken, Ruth suffers a mental breakdown and returns to the mission, intent on killing Clodagh. When Clodagh rings the morning service bell, Ruth attempts to push her over the cliff edge. In the ensuing struggle, Ruth falls to her death.
Ruth's death is the last straw for the Congregation, which closes the mission. The remaining nuns leave just as the monsoon season begins, even earlier than Mr. Dean had originally predicted. Mr. Dean meets the caravan to say goodbye, when Clodagh gives him one final request which he accepts: to tend to Ruth's grave. Clodagh and Mr. Dean clasp hands and share a meaningful look, but Clodagh gathers herself and continues on her way.
Cast
Production Development
Black Narcissus was adapted from Rumer Godden's 1939 novel Black Narcissus. Michael Powell was introduced to the novel by actress Mary Morris, who had appeared in The Thief of Bagdad (1940) and an earlier film where Powell had collaborated with Pressburger, The Spy in Black (1939). 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.
Casting Kathleen Byron was among the first to be cast in the film, in the role of the unstable Sister Ruth. Pressburger described Byron as having a "dreamy voice and great eyes like a lynx", which he felt appropriate for the mentally disturbed character. Deborah Kerr was cast in the role of the leading Sister Superior, Sister Clodagh. Pressburger chose Kerr for the role despite the reservations of Powell, who felt she was too young for the part. At one point, Powell considered Greta Garbo for the part. Kerr was paid £16,000 for fifty-five days of work.
David Farrar was cast as Mr Dean, the virile British agent who becomes the object of Sister Ruth's obsession. Farrar was paid £4,500 for forty-five days of shooting. Flora Robson appears as Sister Philippa, a gardener in the convent.
Of the three principal Indian roles, only the Young General was played by an ethnic Indian, Sabu; the roles of Kanchi, played by Jean Simmons, and the Old General, played by Esmond Knight, were performed by white actors in make-up. 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's casting, remarking that she "perfectly fulfilled my description". The Indian extras were cast from workers at Surrey Commercial Docks in Rotherhithe.Michael Powell, commentary on the Criterion Collection DVD, ch.6
Filming
Filming of Black Narcissus began on 16 May 1946, and was completed on 22 August. 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. While Powell at the time had been known for his love of location shooting, with Black Narcissus he became fascinated with the idea of filming in the studio as much as possible.
The film is known 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.
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. 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."
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 as the last scene and to scrap the Mother Dorothea closing scene. It was filmed but it is not known whether it was printed.
Release Box office Black Narcissus had its world premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on 24 April 1947 attended by Queen Mary, before opening to the public there the following day and being shown in 20 key cities in the UK within 10 days. According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.
It premiered in the United States on 13 August 1947 in New York City at the Fulton Theatre.
In France, where it was released in 1949, the film sold 1,388,416 tickets. In Japan, it was the fifth top-grossing film of 1950, earning in theatrical rentals.
Legion of Decency condemnation In the United States, the Catholic National Legion of Decency condemned the film as "an affront to religion and religious life" for characterising it as "an escape for the abnormal, the neurotic and the frustrated". The version of the film originally shown in the United States had scenes depicting flashbacks of Sister Clodagh's life before becoming a sister edited out at the behest of the Legion of Decency. The 10 cuts to the film, of about 900 feet of film, were supervised by Pressburger, who commented that the cuts were "reasonable, fair and just", and that he made them to further the film's distribution, as the only bookings it had while on the "condemned" list were in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. After the cuts were made, the Legion of Decency removed the film from the list, and further bookings were possible.Staff (March 21, 1948) "Background on Black Narcissus", The New York Times.
Critical response The Manchester Guardian described the film as possessing "good acting and skilfully built-up atmosphere" and praised the cinematography. 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." 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".
Thomas M. Pryor of The New York Times lauded the creative collaboration of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the writer-director duo, for their notable artistic achievement in Black Narcissus. Pryor particularly highlighted the groundbreaking use of Technicolor in the movie, noting its exceptional realism and its ability to create a riveting dramatic impact. He further commended the film's adept employment of miniature sets and process shots to authentically evoke the ambience of the Himalayan setting. Pryor found the presentation of the film's dramatic elements to be exceptionally well-executed and praised the overall performance of the cast as commendable. Nevertheless, Pryor observed a subtle undercurrent of detachment and cynicism in the portrayal of the nuns within the narrative, acknowledging that this aspect might prove disconcerting to certain viewers. Republished in