British nun sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) is chosen by her superior to establish a school and dispensary in the Himalayas. Her companions being Sister Briony (Judith Furse), Sister Phillipa (Flora Robson) and Sister Ruth ( Kathleen Byron). Her superior believes that she is too young to take such responsibility in a strange place still she wishes her well. When they arrive in the place, they are stunned to discover that the wind is blowing hard all the time and their building used to be a harem. Mr Dean (David Farrar), an Englishman who serves as the ruler’s agent warns the sisters that it will be difficult for them to have much impact on local people who have their own traditions and customs. His confidence and charm are noted by both sister Clodgah and sister Ruth. The exotic place and the constant wind lead Sister Clodagh to remember her past as a young woman of privilege in Ireland. Meanwhile, Sister Ruth plunges even further into her sexual fantasy by convincing herself that she loves Mr. Dean, even though he has barely talked to her. Black Narcissus is a digitally restored 1947 classic English film directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Powell called it an erotic film, and so it is on many levels. There is the sexual arousal of Sister Ruth who gets rid of her habit and puts on a red dress and thick red lipstick in her bid for Mr. Dean’s affections.
There is little surface action in Pressburger’s script. Characters come and go, including an impossibly beautiful Jean Simmons, as a 17-year-old bride who has been rejected by her husband. Despite its dazzling visual sweep, not one frame of Black Narcissus was filmed on location. The shots were taken inside studio. The mountains and the castle are the creations of production designer Alfred Junge, and the magnificent color photography, surely among the finest work ever produced for the medium, is the contribution of Jack Cardiff. Powell builds Black Narcissus as a series of moods created through space and color. He contrasts the boxy interiors and blank walls of the British colonial offices with the curved, multi-leveled chambers of the old palace. Deborah Kerr gave a stunning performance and Kathleen Byron was convincing as crazy, possessive woman.
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