Black Narcissus
From Freepedia
- This is an article about a film by Powell & Pressburger. For other uses of Narcissus, see Narcissus (disambiguation).
Black Narcissus (1947) is a film by the British director-writer team of Powell & Pressburger, based on the novel by Rumer Godden.
The film was made mainly at Pinewood Studios with some scenes shot in Leonardslee Gardens, West Sussex, the home of an Indian army retiree which had appropriate trees and plants for the Indian setting. It makes extensive use of matte paintings and large scale landscape paintings to suggest the mountainous environment of the Himalayas, as well as some scale models for motion shots of the convent.
Jack Cardiff won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and for Alfred Junge was similarly recognised for his Art Direction.
A group of Anglican nuns travel to a remote location in the Himalayas to set up a school and hospital, only to find themselves increasingly distracted by the sensuality of their surroundings in a converted seraglio. The Sister in charge (played by Deborah Kerr) is attempting to forget a failed romance at home in Ireland and tensions mount when she has to deal with two men - one the local British agent (David Farrar) and the other the young heir to the throne of the princely state (Sabu) who uses the scent 'Black Narcissus' imported from England. The film builds to a highly-charged dramatic climax.
External links
- Black Narcissus at the Internet Movie Database
- Black Narcissus at screenonline
- Reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages
