Item #: 7088DVD Category: BRITISH Format: DVD MPAA Rating: U

Woolly Rating: 5/10 (21 votes)

MEMBER COMMENTS ON THIS VIDEO

jd	Dec 23, 2003 @ 8:32:53

<[:-} take a peep!
this film by michael “peeping tom” powell is one of the most visually fascinating films i’ve ever seen. the “making of” in the extras says that this was constructed entirely in the studio. there is obvious use of very good stock footage of the himalayas, but there is also heavy use of beautiful painted backdrops that are meant to be more evocative than realistic. in a couple of scenes, startling, painted white “clouds” and blue “sky” are seen through windows. the story is a mess, something about the inability of a group of nuns to keep their faith and or vocation in the face of such fierce natural beauty, isolation, and exposure to “primitive” culture. there is a stiff "rogue" englishman who has partly “gone native” who is obviously intended to seem to be irresistibly sexually attractive, who seals their downfall. this is supposed to take place on the indian side of the himalayan range, in the mountain castle of an apparently muslim prince-like “general” who used it as a harem. the ethnicity of the “primitive” locals is pretty vague. i doubt if powell or co-writer emeric pressburger gave that detail much thought. this would be a great movie to see on a large theater screen with the sound turned off, with sigur ros playing.

It's a lot better than that last review.
I had to comment when I read the one luke-warm review that was posted. Yes, like many of Pressberger and Powell films the views are terrific, but like their others (The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, even Col. Blimp) there is something more fundamental going on. Without giving the film away, the Black Narcissus referred to in the title is a subtle, and in the end, a radical impulse as raw and fundamental as the mountains and the sky and the wind, and the enduring simplicity of the villagers. Far from being a mess, the stories of the young Prince, the slavegirl, the Head of the Sisters (played by a youngish Deborah Kerr), the English man who is her couduit to the locals, the several Sisters themselves, the children, the old wise man, all make up a kind of fairy tale (as in The Red Shoes)and the film is meant to be understood in that light. The ethnicity, the particular religion, or the particular place are all irrelevant; the story is timeless, the place is now.

LONG LIVE JACK CARDIFF
Neither of the two earlier reviews give credit to the real stars of this stunningly gorgeous film: ALFRED JUNGE for the artwork that transformed an English film studio into the Himalays and JACK CARDIFF (taking his inspiration from Rembrandt and Vermeer) who photographed it all so beautifully. Both men won well-deserved Oscars. The film is far from perfect; numerous nits can be picked: Deborah Kerr is too young for her part; David Farrar ( a sort of better looking David Carradine) looks silly in a goofy Jed Clampett hat with his long, skinny legs astride a miniature pony; Jean Simmons, bedecked in jewelry with a huge nose diamond, is supposed to be a beggar; and the transformation of Kathleen Byron from a nun into a homicidal maniac is so over the top as to be ludicrous. Forget the story and watch this movie over and over for each glorious frame.

One of the greats
Get ahold of a list of all the good films from 1947 and take a good hard look at it. Scan each and every title and ask yourself: Are any of these films better than 'Black Narcissus?' I, for one, don't think so. **** Black Narcissus (1947) -2005 Kevin Rayburn

• GOODBYE UNCLE TOM
Snuff Film... (Tim)

• TAMPOPO
Awesome... (CMH)

• ROMERO
... (Sue)

• VAMPIRES VS ZOMBIES
horrible... (beachmonkey)

• PULP FICTION (COL ED)
a thrill ride... (Alan Hall)

• PERFUME
KINKY, DISTURBING... (DKB)

• BLACK MASK 2: CITY IF MASKS
not bad... (Dedeals)

• ELVIS ON TOUR
Elvis in Concert. ... (elvisandmeatloaf@aol.com)

• BORN YESTERDAY
A great performance... (micca)

• WONDERWALL
Why this film dserves more than a one star rating.... (Eric)

• PIT STOP (LTBX)
... (pike)

• BEWARE OF A HOLY WHORE
... (pike)

• BIG BAD MAMA
... ()

• GOODBYE UNCLE TOM
MISUNDERSTOOD... (Caribba)

• MONKEY KUNG FU
the best... (melo70)

• PANTERA 3 WATCH IT GO
WATCH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... (leo)

• HOUSE OF STRANGERS
FINE 1949 NOIR/DRAMA... (DKB)

• KEEP YOUR DISTANCE
LOCALLY SHOT DRAMA... (DKB)

• GOODBYE UNCLE TOM
a genius reality check 4 our race we may live in the white mans land & call it hme bt in doing that we deny the truth of our being. All brown skin people nomatta hw light r african rayalty ... (lady swirl)