Black Narcissus -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 51)
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- Опубликовано: 22 июн 2020
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Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the great English filmmaking duo, released Black Narcissus in 1947, a movie about nuns in the Himalayas. Why this story at this moment?
This video reviews, discusses, and analyzes the meanings of Black Narcissus.
It discusses the contrasts of Black Narcissus, including sex versus chastity, Christianity versus Hinduism, and the movie's use of height and elevation.
All reasonable comments welcome, including reasoned disagreements. I ban foolish talk on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life.
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she comes from Ireland
#
Clodagh does. thanks for that correction.
Yeah, she was Anglican Irish.
One interpretation I had for this film was that Sister Ruth is an avatar representing Sister Clodagh's inner sexual desires. If you notice, both Ruth and Clodagh look very similar - both in their nun outfits and especially when depicted in regular outfits and make-up: striking red hair and red lipstick. In the beginning of the film when we meet the nuns, Ruth is depicted as absent (empty chair at the dinner table) and seemingly not interested in the nunnery. Before the very end, Clodagh confronts Ruth and they face-off at the table- Ruth is applying her red lipstick (representative of her sexual desire) while Clodagh reads her Bible (representative of her faith). The film climaxes with a great struggle at the church bell between Clodagh and Ruth, with Clodagh winning out and Ruth plummeting to her doom. Clodagh's faith wins out and her desires (Ruth) are put to rest. Your thoughts?
Yes, that's outstanding. Two sides to the life of nuns; two to Englishwomen. The sexual side falls off a cliff, down to the hot jungle abyss below. Doesn't Clodagh go back to England in the end?
@@LearningaboutMovies she does go back. Perhaps it was never really about establishing a convent but instead was about facing her inner demons.
@@LearningaboutMovies the other, probably more common, interpretation is that Ruth and Clodagh are different women, each with their own different struggles. Either interpretation is correct. I think its an extremely complex film either way. I loved it.
yeah, they are different, but dopplegangers, so you've got a psychosexual interpretation going on there, not that it is literal, but it is a reasonable reading of the movie.
I love this interpretation. This was all missed in the 2020 remake. The 2 sisters look very different and the lipstick scene is done when Ruth is alone.
It's an INCREDIBLE FILM! My mothers favorite and part of my childhood. Horrifying was the memory of watching sister Ruth trying to push sister Chleoda off the bell platform....amazing!
Just watched the original movie for the first time thanks to the FX remake catching my attention. The actress playing Sister Ruth had incredible expressions and eyes, she was truly terrifying to look at when she starts unraveling at the end. I loved the way they slowly made her more disheveled and sick looking until the very last scene.
the traffic to this video jumped a lot overnight, I had no idea why, then I see that there's a remake. Not sure what good a remake would do. If you want to chime in on that, that would be great.
@@LearningaboutMovies I’m glad the remake brought more attention to the original because I would have never seen it if I didn’t see an ad for the newer one. I think the new mini series delves a lot deeper to explore the aspects of the original like Sister Clodagh’s past life but I feel that the original Sister Ruth’s portrayal is unmatched.
I love with this movie , I fell in love of this movie when I watched in Germany , I couldn't understand a word but the cinematography, scenes , colours got my eyes , despite I couldn't understand, I follow the plot as if it were a silent movie and it is easy to understand . Now I have watched this movie like 50 times . I just love it . I miss the time when movies were more handcrafted and less CGI .
excellent, thank you
It's cinematic gold. And Sister Ruth's disintegration and goading of Deborah Kerr's character is fantastic.
yes, thank you.
I always had this feeling that some type of hallucinogenic pollen or other botanical substance permeates the whole environment. Everybody has a feel of being on a subtle kind of "trip": Joyous, frightened, introspective, intuitive, cellular awareness etc. But what do I know? Except that 2 of my favorite movies had Deborah Kerr in them. This one, and The Innocents.
Im from TamilNadu 💥,india .... Recently Saw this movie bcz...i love the pictures of making vintage days Hollywood...and i loved this movie classical pictures and simple plot that beautifully maked with nuns and sideby characters and locations...Just a Full meal satisfied movie ❤✨ Superb classic heart Black Narcissus 1947 💫and i watched this is in Tamil Dub Version ....Gd Voices ...tq
thank you. excellent!
I saw this movie completely by chance one time and couldn't understand why I had never heard of it before. A film this great should be more known
Great film. What I appreciate most about it is the execution of the atmosphere through the environment, as if the environment is a character. The first hint of foreboding to creep in is the first time we hear the beating of the drums. The movie gradually and subtly, here and there, dances back and forth between what could be enjoyable moments and scenery, even humor, and everything eventually being engulfed by the environment, and the night, culminating in the climax. Really well done in so many different ways.
The movie is magical. The cinematography and art direction are like a National Geographic color documentary combined with Walt Disney artistry. The story is like Hitchcock meets Edgar Allan Poe. Mix everything together and you get a gorgeous and mysterious film, unlike any other film.
I remember watching this classic when I was in my teens. I was captivated by Kathleen Byron. It was years later before I rewatched it and found out who she was. She totaly stole the movie.
Easily one of the ten most beautiful color movies ever made, haunting and sublime.
I'd say it was the first. The lighting and photography is simply stunning.
Leave Her To Heaven
All That Heaven Allows
The River
Blood And Black Lace
to name a few others.
Absolutely brilliant film. I love Kathleen Byron so much, and the thing I noticed was that Deborah Kerr and Kathleen are quite similar facially, which is a fascinating study of perhaps two halves of a whole, as if Kathleen is Deborah’s flipside. I love it so much!❤️
yes!
@@LearningaboutMovies absolutely enjoying your videos!
Thank you.
great piece on one of my favorite movies - thank you! this film is hypnotic, i get caught up in it's beautiful, edgy spell every time. the painted backdrops and lighting are amazing. striking performances by Deborah Kerr and of course Kathleen Byron as Sister Ruth.
you're welcome.
One of my favorites. All the painting done on glass. Just gorgeous. Thank you for reviewing.
you're welcome.
Excellent, well thought out review. I watched this movie over 20 years ago & It made a lasting impression on me then & your review has brought it back to me.
wish kanchi had more scenes as jean simmons was just breathtaking
I saw this movie when I was a young person in the 50/60s and loved it. I am now watching the BBC 3 part series and find it good also but not as sexy or emotionally violent as the 40s movie. You would think it would be the other way around.
thank you. That's surprising indeed.
I'm grateful for the recommendation to see this movie. It was released 8 years before my birth but is modern and full of meaning enough to be enjoyed today. I look forward to telling my friends about it! Wow! Thanks.
you're welcome!
Man, I love this channel! Its always great to find that more and more passionate people who have amassed big banks of thoughts and information are using youtube to vent it all. (and also chat with the viewers)
I think I watch films for quite different reasons then you do but your videos still work very well to recommend some great films and filmographies.
I would love to hear about your background with films and such
I would also love to hear your thoughts on La Notte if you have any.
thank you. your comment means a lot.
I teach a college "intro to film" class, which is part of this channel's genesis. Basically this channel is a way to combine that class, casual movie-viewing, and analytical work that I'd do for scholarship but would rather do for a wider, public audience.
There must be a thousand or more ways to watch a one movie. It's the most complex and difficult-to-interpret medium, since it combines language, sound, and visuals. Its constant challenges are exciting. Movies tell us we have a very limited vision for reality and are limited in our hallucinations of it; they can enable us to expand that vision. We can be disillusioned through the illusion of film.
I enrolled at the school of MST3K, the old 80s and 90s series. Also Siskel and Ebert. Combine that with a bunch of years of literature classes in grad school, and these videos are what you get.
Antonioni deserves a video here, or more. La Notte too. Probably best to fulfill your request that way. I hope you stick around, comment, ask questions, etc. Thanks again.
Your channel is great, and you're right the cinematography is completely beautiful. Regards from México.
thank you. Viva Mexico!
I showed a video to a friend. She called Sister Ruth "the psycho nun from hell." She is very scary.
"Psycho Nun from Hell" should be a horror movie.
I think I had her in High School.
One of the best movies ever about conflict, both inner and outer. East vs West. Christian vs Hindu. Change or no change. Mirrors conflict in my own life. Should I be the sexy girl who adores men or the studious girl ? Definitely one of the most thought-provoking movies in my life. Similar in that way to Doctor Zhivago, The Seventh Seal and others. I love the subtlety of the end. Reminds me of the line : not with a bang but a whimper. I am now a physician, and should be doing charts right now, but I have seen this movie many times because i find the whole thing captivating. Great movie and great review!
thank you very much.
My favorite powell and pressburger film
hard to pick. I'd go with A Matter of Life and Death. Just finished a video on I Know Where I'm Going!, coming out in a month or so.
Excellent review. I have watched this film several times as it appears from time to time on British TV. A made for TV mini series of 3 one hour broadcasts has recently been shown over Xmas 2020 in the UK starring Gemma Arterton. It is a pale imitation of the 1947 classic you are discussing. Interesting in that is was almost Diana Rigg's last gig. In all the times I have watched it I never picked up on the fact that these nuns are in it for 12 months with a get out of jail free clause in their contracts. That explains a lot of what is going on.
thank you. Excellent, yes, many people are coming here because of the new miniseries. Hard to remake something that can very likely not be topped in any way, pun sort of intended.
It took me a while to really get into the film, but by the end I was mesmerized
excellent!
One of my favorite movies. It was shown often on New York tv in the 60s and 70s. I've watch it many times and will watch it again now
Great!
Came here after seeing the 2020 show and the movie, I really enjoyed both despite the different atmospheres, this is such a good review which highlights the elements that make it such a captivating picture! I preferred the movie (also because I love old movies) but I can say I liked the modern adaptation too
thank you.
Very good analysis. You earned a new subscriber.
thank you!
I remember watching this movie many years ago and getting totally sucked in to the entire story. can't wait to watch again.
1:54 David Farrar as Mr. Dean. For me, Farrar will always be Xerxes I, Emperor of Persia, the King of Kings, from “The 300 Spartans” (1962).
A great film. I saw it after reading the novel by Rumer Godden, on which it's based.
Great call on all the contrasts
thank you.
Great video! I watched it last night! Great movie!
Always loved this film! Still do. Creative artist and serious high art classical musician me.
One of my favorites for sure
Excellent breakdown!
thank you.
If you like this movie, I would seriously recommend the French film _Of Gods and Men._ It won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and is beautiful and so accurate
yes, that is a great movie for sure.
Incredible film in all aspects. One of my alt-time favorites.
As a Nun, I was really interested in this movie. It has just been re-made (2020) for Hulu, as a 3 part series. It's not as good, but you wondered how such a movie would be pitched today so....
I have always been jarred by being told I was "too pretty to be a Nun". As though becoming a Nun was purely a desperation move for a woman no man would touch. Do men really believe that snagging on of them is the only ultimate female goal?
My goodness, do people think that all women with vocations only have them because they are homely? Or, do people think that pretty women cannot have any depth of character? I hope neither are the case.
The original is mysterious and steamy with oppression and altitude sickness complicating the weakening intentions and resolve of the Sisters. Hinduism (to many) teaches that sensual pleasure is one of the 4 goals to be sought in life. Although self control is seen as important, sex is seen as something to be enjoyed. Not only is this in sharp contrast to the way sex is viewed in most Christian cultures, it is difficult for the celibate Nuns to ignore, although they seem to try. They must accept that their culture will not e absorbed by the people they are trying to teach.
thank you, Sister. Excellent comment.
Well, it was written by a woman. You'd better ask her! Well, you can't, she is no more, but you know what I mean :-) I was actually taught by nuns, and I have to say none of them looked a lot like Deborah Kerr and Kathleen Byron, and if they had any inappropriate desires, it wasn't obvious. (Both actresses were Michael Powell's mistresses, by the way, though not at the same time. I'm clearly in the wrong job.)
The whole point of the story is that however hard we try, making a paradise on earth is not possible. Human nature will out.
Eighty plus years on from the time of this novel's setting, India is a poverty stricken, hugely corrupt country filled with rape and murder gangs and where the disgraceful caste system still reigns. Hinduism is just another sham, like all religions. It's use is to dissuade uprisings against the powerful and to subjugate women.
Every man and woman on earth has only one purpose, to breed and pass on their DNA. All other purposes are secondary and of little importance.
@@markcynic808 "India is a poverty stricken, hugely corrupt country filled with rape and murder gangs and where the disgraceful caste system still reigns" - what absolute tosh, don't watch so much BBC News trash, please or visit the country. It's like an Indian thinking England was full of grooming gangs, and the rest of the comment is so racist and sexist, it's jaw-dropping.
Great review! I think that it's matte paintings like matte paint: non-glossy. Same pronunciation. I don't know why they would be called that, rather than 'scenic' or 'atmospheric' -- or anything else!
Really like this movie. Although I must admit I was sad to see you didn’t enjoy The Red Shoes as much(judging by your rating on Letterboxd). I was curious to know what your thoughts on that film are.
I figure the Red Shoes judgment is my fault, as I think all the other Archers movies are great. Will rewatch it at some point.
So have you seen the FX version yet? I'd love to know if you liked it.
I just finished it. Thought it was pretty cool. I didn't realize it was a newer version of something. But after skimming the older one you review it made more sense it being after WW2
I have not seen it. worth it?
@@LearningaboutMovies OH DEFINITELY. Very well done! Almost an exact copy too.
I enjoyed your review. One thing though... It's Kerr as in Star!
thank you!
The movie was certainly interesting. I'm quite surprised at how there was no mention of the portrayal of Indians. The words used to describe the natives. It is a movie of its time.
no mention in the video? if so, that would require double the length of the video! I think it's a British-Empire-needs-to-leave-India movie in subtle ways.
@@LearningaboutMovies Yes, India gained independence from the UK the year this movie came out and just 4 months before the movie release in 1947.
My favourite Powell & Pressburger film is always the one I am watching RIGHT NOW. Quite often, that means BLACK NARCISSUS.
yes, impossible to pick between a dozen greats.
Good review and nice intro, though not a black and white framed in those boxes.
not sure what you mean by the last half of your sentence.
Sister Clodagh is Irish.........so why does she speak with a middle class ENGLISH accent?
I’m not sure if this is the greatest film of all time. I’m trying hard to think of anything better. Maybe the Wizard of Oz, maybe 2001 a Space Oddyssey, maybe Apocalypse Now, maybe Taxi Driver, maybe The Day the Earth Stood Still, possibly Raisin’ Arizona, possibly Zulu. Maybe it’s better than all of them.
that's an interesting mix of movies. The question is even if this is the best Powell-PRessburger movie.
Learning about Movies I think on balance BN probably is. I’m fascinated by the big 4 Rank Powell & Pressburger 40s technicolor movies. For me it’s
1) Black Narcissus 1947
2) Colonel Blimp 1943
close between 2 & 3
3) Red Shoes. 1948
a distant 4th
4) A matter of life & death 1946
I've been trying to find a dvd of this movie. I have seen it and it is most excellent led by the incomparable Deborah Kerr. I didn't care for the subplot of Sister Ruth going man crazy, but someone has to fall off the cliff (one must ask why they didn't partition off the bell tower to being with). Oh, and that short moment just before they leave when Sister Cloudah asks Dean to watch after the grave. Ouch! It is on youtube for free as it is now in the public domain. Don't watch it to be entertained. Watch it to be enlightened.
hope you find a dvd! It's streaming on Criterion Channel, which requires a subscription.
Brilliant film ❤️❤️❤️❤️. See also I Know Where I’m Going and Stairway to Heaven (A Matter of Life and Death) 🙏🙏🙏
yes. I've covered "I know where I'm going" on this channel, but my favorite of the three is A Matter of Life and Death.
The nuns don't try to CONTROL their earthly desires, they SURRENDER them to God. There's a Big difference.
I love this movie.
a fine ideal, though difficult in practice. Paradiso 3-5 discusses this.
Didn't care much for the movie. As someone who grew up in India, I found the movie's portrayal of Indians and India utterly ridiculous! This is a British movie made near the end of British rule - Brits should have known India very well. Instead we get a ludicrous Hollywood-style mishmash. The woman who plays the elderly "aya" is totally un-Indian in every way. We see natives beating drums in a jungle, a very stereotyped idea that seems to come from a Tarzan movie. As for the nuns, the whole Sister Ruth drama is absurd - if she wanted to leave the order, she could have just left. But instead she becomes a crazed woman bent on murdering Sister Clodagh for no valid reason developed in the movie. It would have made more sense for her to turn against Mr Dean, who rejected her. I like movies from the 1940s, but this one was a serious disappointment given all the praise it gets.
While there is much to appreciate about this movie, it should be mentioned that it presents negative stereotypes of the people and culture of the Himalayan setting that are at times, outright racist. As the nuns (and the monks before them) depart India, so did the British only a few years after this was made.
It’s a fine movie. Unfortunately like a lot of British movies from that period, the accents are now very dated. English people just don’t speak like that any more, and all those clipped vowels are rather jarring. Also, never quite understood how Sister Ruth turned out to have permed hair.
would be interesting to study those accent changes you mention.
The average English person never spoke like this. This is called Received Pronunciation, it’s a created standard for British English that was taught in schools. RP is still around, but it has changed,’listen to Queen Elizabeth in the 40s-60s compared to her accent from the 70s to today, some sound changes (house used rhyme with nice, no longer) but mostly it’s judt broader.