Spotted by
Malcolm Pratt
Through a Lens, Darkly: Revisiting the rich splendors of "Black
Narcissus"
"Oscar Coverage" issue (6th April 2001)
of Entertainment Weekly
"The Oscar telecast's real Best Picture?" If you said "Black Narcissus",
you're not alone; even if they had never heard of this 1947 British drama,
many home viewers gasped in astonishment at the glimpses of the film on
display during the presentation of an honorary Oscar to cinematographer
Jack Cardiff (who'd already won an Oscar for his work on "Narcissus").
The endless Himalayan vistas and sensuously ripe hues of Michael Powell
and Emeric Pressburger's classic are all the more remarkable for being created
out of painted backdrops and plaster at England's Pinewood Studios.
"Black Narcissus" is more than just a visual treat, though. The story of
a group of English nuns who psychologically unravel at a remote mountain
convent, it's an ahead-of-its-time masterpiece of eroticism and repression,
with Kathleen Byron deeply unnerving as a sister driven mad with lust (check
out the scene in which she puts on her lipstick). Released with all the
trimmings on DVD last January (The Criterion Collection, $39.95), "Narcissus"
remains, like its characters, of a very high order indeed."
-- Ty Burr
Malcolm adds :-
Also included with the article is an inset photo of a BN lobby card, the
one with a color reproduction of Mr. Dean astride his pony during the
Christmas visit to the convent, with the photo of Deborah Kerr in the
lower lh corner and "Black Narcissus" in a yellow font in a long black
rectangle at the bottom.
- Malcolm
Back to index
