Black Narcissus

Synopsis

At the Convent of the Order of the Servants of Mary in Calcutta, Sister Clodagh is instructed by her order to oversee the establishment of a new school and hospital at Mopu in the Himalayas. The local General has offered the use of a deserted palace, which was briefly home to a monastery, but originally built as a home for the dead General's concubines.

Sister Clodagh sets off with a team of four, picked for her by the Mother Superior: Sister Briony, for her strength, Sister 'Honey' Blanche, for her popularity, Sister Philippa, for the garden, and Sister Ruth, who has suffered from poor health and whose commitment to the Order is uncertain. Arriving at the palace, renamed the House of St Faith, the nuns are greeted by the old caretaker Ayah and a child, Joseph Anthony. They are still unpacking when they find the school and dispensary swamped, and they soon learn that the General has paid the villagers to attend. Later Sister Clodagh is visited by the General's agent, the arrogant and cynical Mr Dean, who is dismissive of the Order's chances at the palace, predicting they will be forced to leave before the rains come.

The climate at Mopu is inhospitable, and the nuns find the going tough. Dean tells Sister Clodagh to be wary of treating any serious medical cases, warning that the villagers will turn against them if there is a death. When an excited Sister Ruth bursts in to tell of her success in treating a patient with a burst artery, Sister Clodagh chastises her for failing to summon the medically trained Sister Briony, but Dean, sensing that Sister Ruth is aggrieved, commends her.

Later, Dean returns to the convent with a young village girl, Kanchi. Dean explains that Kanchi is headstrong and has been following him around and causing a nuisance for her family, who are unable to marry her off. Reluctantly, Sister Clodagh agrees to take her in. When the young General, the old General's nephew, presents himself to Sister Clodagh and asks to be educated in the school, Clodagh feels duty bound to accept him, but is uneasy about Kanchi being in his presence.

As Christmas arrives, Sister Clodagh finds herself increasingly falling to nostalgia for a lost love. When Dean arrives at the nuns' Christmas service drunk, Sister Clodagh, appalled, demands he not visit again. Later, conscious that Sister Ruth has been watching Dean, she attempts to talk to her, about her health, and about Dean. Sister Ruth is defiant, accusing Sister Clodagh of being attracted to Dean herself.

Spring comes. When a gold chain goes missing, Kanchi is blamed and beaten by Aya, until the young General interrupts and releases her. As the flowers bloom, Sister Clodagh discovers that Sister Philippa has planted the garden entirely with flowers in place of the expected vegetables. Confronted, Sister Philippa, asks Sister Clodagh to ask the Reverent Mother to transfer her. When a sick baby is brought to the dispensary, Sister Briony, knowing she cannot help him, refuses to treat him. Without Sister Briony's knowledge, however, Sister Blanche offers the mother medicine. When the baby dies, the nuns find the school and dispensary abandoned by the villagers. The young General and Kanchi have also disappeared.

Isolated, and warned by Aya not to visit the village, the nuns have no option but to ring the bell and hope that Mr. Dean will come. That evening, Sister Clodagh, unaware that she is being watched by Sister Ruth, confides in Dean her fear that Mopu is defeating them, and confesses her own tormented memories. Dean advises her to abandon the nunnery. Later, Sister Clodagh, unable to sleep, wanders the corridors. Seeing a light in Sister Ruth's room, she tries the door and finds it barred. When Sister Ruth opens the door, Sister Clodagh finds that she has abandoned her nun's habit in favour of a striking red evening dress. Sister Ruth informs her defiantly that she has left the Order and is leaving the nunnery. Sister Clodagh begs her to wait until morning, and settles down to wait with her. But she falls asleep, and wakes to see Sister Ruth rushing out of the room. Sister Clodagh calls the other Sisters, but they are unable to catch her.

Sister Ruth makes her way down the mountain and comes upon the empty house of Mr. Dean. When Dean returns, she professes her love for him, but is rejected. Seeing that she is sick, he offers to return with her to the nunnery, but she refuses his aid and leaves alone. Sister Ruth makes her way back to the nunnery, where she watches Sister Clodagh in the chapel. As Sister Clodagh goes out to ring the morning bell, Sister Ruth rushes from the chapel and attacks her. There is a struggle and Sister Ruth falls to her death.

The surviving nuns prepare to abandon the nunnery. As they are making their way, they are met on the path by Mr. Dean. He and Sister Clodagh say their goodbyes, and as Dean moves away, the rains begin to fall.

Review from The Monthly Film Bulletin

31 May 1947, Vol. 14 No. 161

Black Narcissus

Certificate: A. Distributors: General Film. Producers: Independent Producers. Directors: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Director of Photography: Jack Cardiff. Screen Play by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Colour Process: Technicolor. Leading Players: Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Esmond Knight, Jean Simmons. 8,991 ft. 100 mins.

Drama. Five Anglo-Catholic nuns in a disused palace remote in the Himalayas opened a school and a hospital. It prospered superficially. Then one sister began planting flowers instead of vegetables. The beautiful native girl pupil ran away with the young local ruler (also a pupil). Another sister treated a village child who died - and none of the villagers would go near the nuns again. Finally, Sister Ruth, whipped to near-madness by frustrated nature, threw off her nun's robes, painted her lips scarlet and went off to the local English agent. He insisted she return to the convent. There she found the Sister Superior, Sister Clodagh, pulling the bell, on the parapet above a mighty precipice. She attacked Clodagh, but in the struggle herself went tumbling to death. The theme of frustrated womanhood in what is rarely more than a pseudo-religious atmosphere may be unpleasing, but the polish, the unquestionable style of its exposition, mark this an outstanding production. Camera and colour make a great combination. The natural colour is beautiful; but, more, the rhythm of camera movement is recurrently used in combination with an overtinting of the whole scene, at significant dramatic moments, to produce an emphasis we have not seen before. The mounting too is impressive. The lofty precipice and the exotic interiors of the palace would be mere melodrama, but they are backgrounded by mighty mountains and, with the skill of paradox, put into perspective by a closeup of tropical lily leaf. In personal close-ups, brilliant cutting brings an unusual intensity to the moments of crisis between the sisters. In this, of course, acting helps, notably the sustained tension of Deborah Kerr's Clodagh. But the rest of the cast are good too - both those we know and the newcomers, Kathleen Byron as mad Ruth, Jean Simmons as the slinky native girl. David Farrer gives one of his most fluent performances to date.

Suitability: All.

K.F.