Black Narcissus – 1947 – Emeric Pressburger – Michael Powell

Black Narcissus was filmed in 1947 and is a film about a convent of nuns who are told to move to the Himalayas to care for the sick and wounded and to teach those who have not be taught. As James Kendrick states “While the thematic elements of desire and the constant battle between the spirit and the flesh are intricate elements of Black Narcissus, the film will probably be best remembered for its impressive visuals.” (Kendrick 2001)

The use of paint over’s within Black Narcissus are extremely impressive. You are transported to the Himalayas, and it is toughly believable – even thought the whole film is shot in Pinewood studios.

This technique adds to the films narrative as it allows you to see the workings and thought process behind the team that made it. Much like you are being shown how the nuns are working and why they are doing it.

By using paint over’s it allows the audience to deconstruct and look behind the sets and the location of the film. I feel this directly affects the way you watch the films as it encourages you to look behind the narrative too. Opening your eyes to the sexual desires that are reemerging within the nuns.

There are several instances in the film whereby paint over’s are used, none of which are as effective as the bell ringing scenes (shown in figure

1) this prop is a very important element within the film and the paint over make it much more grand and spectacular, rater than being a frame on a 4 foot wooden block.

As the film progresses the nuns start to change, becoming more irritated by each other, frustrated by the smallest thing and irritable, this is shown in a various amount of ways within the narrative. For example the wind: it’s constantly blowing and noisy throughout the film but it becomes more violent and symbolic towards the end, representing, distress and the sense of being thrown off guard. Its things like this that “cause many of the nuns to succumb to the ways of the world” (Anderson 2011) showing a sexual desire for the natives and male helpers.

Figure 1

Nothing represents the nun’s sexual desire more than when the Head Nun applies red lipstick and dresses in her own clothes to seduce a man. The very idea of the head nun trying to impress a man send the rest of the convent crazy, creating a whirlwind effect until a death occurs. The symbolism of the lipstick isn’t only to represent the nun trying to seduce one of the male helpers, but the red also suggests a danger or threat rather than it just showing her “sex-starved insanity”(annon2013)

Bibliography

James Kendrick - QNetwork Entertainment Portal. 2013. QNetwork Entertainment Portal. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.qnetwork.com/index.php?page=review&id=2412.

Jeffrey M. Anderson - (2011). Black Narcissus (1947). Available: http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/classic/blacknar.shtml.

Annon - Black Narcissus - Rotten Tomatoes. 2013. Black Narcissus - Rotten

Tomatoes. Available at:http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black_narcissus/.

Images

Figure 1 - oldhollywood, (2012), behind the set [ONLINE]. Available at:http://oldhollywood.tumblr.com/post/17250797182/above-the-bell-ringing-scene-in-black-narcissus

Figure 2 - Clip joint: Lipstick | Film | theguardian.com . 2013. Clip joint: Lipstick | Film | theguardian.com . [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jul/27/clip-joint-lipstick-film. 

Figure 2