Rating: 
Summary: As Good As It Gets
Review: One must agree - this film has aged very well, and even though probably quite unpopular in the 70s - 80s, our new era probably will appreciate and identify with its lush overblown imagery and the tension growing from the quite rudimentary (and humane) mind conra matter studies. It's a very watchable film, and there are some of the most beautiful shots ever made of Deborah Kerr (especially in the flashback sequences) and the very young but deeply bitchy Jean Simmons. Sabu has grown to be a talented goodlooker as well. An overall enjoyable film that sinks deep into your visual memory. No need to be afraid of the religious undertones - this subject is really well presented, and, unlike an American movie of the period would do, it never gets lost in a willy-nilly, organ-grinding, female-choir-highlighted false piety. Great fun, and never a dull moment!
Rating: 
Summary: Greatness Diminished
Review: A truly great film, a blending of the rare and unique. Great performances all around set amidst the lush color and tone created by the best use of Technicolor I have ever seen.
However, it should be noted, for those who love this film that the Criterion DVD release is not without some severe flaws.
Scenes have been cut (Kanji's dance sequence,) the color mixing is imprecise at times (the way Sister Ruth's eyes glow blue in the scene at Mister Dean's house.) Also, a critical mistake was that the Criterion release is available only in 4:3 aspect ratio - you may NOT view it letterboxed nor is there an option to view it in the widescreen 16:9 format. These may seem like trivial objections to those who have never seen the film before or those who do not have HDTV or wide screen televisions. For the film lover, for the purist, these objections are neither trivial nor without gravity. To see Black Narcissus as it was meant to be seen, without missing scenes and in widescreen, that is what the Criterion release could have been but is not.
That having been said, this is still a great film, with many interesting extras (commentary track by Scorcese and Powell.)
For those who share an intimate passion for this film - brace yourself for the Criterion DVD release, an opportunity lost to bring one of the great films, preserved and intact to the home screen.
Rating:
Summary: Kathleen Byron-Wow!
Review: This is a great movie for those who admire well-made films. I am a big fan of the Pressburger-Powell collaborations and only wish all of them were available (Colonel Blimp where are you?). Kathleen Byron is remarkable for her portrayal of a woman besieged by mortal concupiscence. Something tells me Mr. Spielberg thought so to since he cast her as Mrs. James Ryan in "Saving Private Ryan". I wish we would see her more often on screen.
Rating:
Summary: A visual delight
Review: It is rare that a cinematographer gets credited with the success of a film before the producer director or even actor, but this has been the case recently with Black Narcissus. This is high praise indeed when you consider the directors and producers were Powell and Pressburger. Although his screen credit was prominent enough at the time the picture was made, since Jack Cardiff won Best Cinematographer (Color) Academy Award in 1947, his profile was raised further. Cardiff's Special Academy Award last year recognises his contributions to this film, The Red Shoes, A Matter Of Life And Death and Rambo among others. The fact that Technicolor was still a developing technique makes Cardiff's achievements even more remarkable. The subtle contrasts he achieves particularly in the shooting of landscape scenery and locations are usually only achieved with monochrome photography. The splendid costumes on the other hand, provide rich reds, yellows and greens to contrast with the pale blues and greys of the background, making all the actors not playing nuns stand out, particularly Ruth when she wears her new red dress. Look at how the colouring of the dress changes according to her mood, achieved with skilful use of lighting and shadows. Sometimes it appears purple, others black, and sometimes bright scarlet. Earlier, Ruth is heard to remark that all the Indians look the same to her, which is ironic when the nuns' habits make them look alike, but the rich costume of the leading Indians mark each out as an individual. This reflects the mature attitude to race displayed in this film. There is little or no blacking up (apart from Jean Simmons), the beliefs and customs of the Indians are treated with respect by the film-makers, if not by all of the nuns. There is some clever colonial observation in the British man who has gone native (played with square-jawed ruggedness by David Farrar) and the Indian Prince who wants to become a Christian (a grown-up Sabu). The achievement of Cardiff is all the more remarkable when you consider that the directors and producers he overshadowed were none other than Powell And Pressburger. The subject matter has dated since the film was made. India achieved independence the following year and a lot of what goes on in this film is now history. Having said that, the interpersonal relationships are still as fresh as they were in 1946 and Deborah Kerr's troubled nun still as relevant a character today as she was then. This film is worth watching just for the visuals, but it is also an enjoyable story to watch, unpredictable and with a rougher edge than might be expected at the beginning.
Rating:
Summary: One more applause
Review: I have nothing but a subjective comment to add to the many fine objective reviews presented here. This is a spellbinding movie that has haunted me for years. No other film in my fifty-odd years of viewing has so affected me. There is, beyond the obvious tangibles of superb artistry, an intangible quality that continues to elude me. Maybe it's that last scene of departure - the man framed against the mountain, the raindrops evanescing from the leaves, the procession passing finally into the mist. I know something has passed, yet something remains. But what? I know now that the movie is to be experienced, not decoded, a case where the figurative whole becomes a sum greater than any of its truly astonishing parts. Someone once observed that strange things happen when the practical mind of the English encounters traditional mysticism of the East. Strange and sometimes wonderful things, it should be added.
Rating:
Summary: Warning! This is a cut version.
Review: "Black Narcissus" as a movie rates five stars, but I must remove two stars from this version because Criterion has given us a cut version without telling us. I have seen the full version of "Black Narcissus," and Criterion's omission is inexcusable. Powell and Pressburger are trying to portray the erotic from four perspectives: the ascetic, the repressed, the carnal and the sensual. Anyone who knows Powell and Pressburger knows the importance of sensuality in their films. Thanks to Criterion, the expressed sensuality of "Black Narcissus" - the courtship of Kanchi (18 year-old Jean Simmons) and the Young General (Sabu), including a notorious dance scene - is not available to us, and a significant element of the story is missing. The missing footage itself rates pulling a star; that this is a Criterion edition rates pulling another. We should expect better from Criterion.
Rating:
Summary: Honorary Oscar for Jack Cardiff,
Review: This year, the motion picture academy of art and sience has chosen Jack Cardiff, BSC for their honorary oscar. This is the first time a cinematographer recieves this, and certainly, nobody deserves it more than Cardiff, who won his first Oscar for color cinematography on BLACK NARCISSUS. It's an amazing work of colors and lights that he shows in this film --which was only his second film as director of photography-- which litterally changed the history of this art. Starting from a subtle, limited pallete of gray, white and beige (the simplicity of the lighting is clearly influenced by Vermeer), Cardiff graduately increase his color palette. Colors represent the sensuality of life that those nuns had gave up in sacrifice for their faith, and that keeps coming back in their lives. As springs comes, the viewers will be stuned by the flowers flourishing all over the screen. Then as the climatic moment aproaches, Cardiff starts to add more colors in his lighting. Orange for sunset, amber for candle lights, and a lot of deep, menacing shadows. As the day breaks, the screen is covered with the blue and purplish red. For the climatic moment, Cardiff choses to cover the screen with a slight mist (fog filter) to add the poetic, misterious feeling to the hightened emotion. In many ways, this is undoubtly one of the most daring, experimental, expressive and beautiful color film ever made. Add to this is the music and the movement of the camera and the cutting--all in synchronization with the music. Contemporary viewers may be put off by the exotisism of the story and the film, but then they will be surprised that everything was done in England, mostly in the studio sets and back-lots. BLACK NARCISSUS is a jem of cinema, a true work of art, filled with extreme emotion and drama. This DVD faithfully represents the color and and the sound and the fury as created by Powell and Pressburger. Just see it!
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely one-of-a-kind
Review: With BLACK NARCISSUS, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger achieved what may be their masterpiece: it's every bit as visually stunning as their more beloved films THE RED SHOES and A MATTER OF LIFE AN DEATH, but with Rumer Godden's novel providing the story they have a much more sophisticated and challenging story to work with. Godden's novel of lust and memory bursting forth in the peculiar Himalayan atmosphere of a former harem, transformed into a new convent, is unlike almost anything ever written, and provides the cast with absolutely extraordinary roles to work with. With the exception of the Governess in THE INNOCENTS, Deborah Kerr never got another role up to the level of her singular talent as that of Sister Clodagh, the ambivalent sister superior in the convent of St. Faith's: her fierce determination and unearthly beauty is well-served by the billowing wimple that frames her face so severely. There are some very strange performances of Indian characters that almost sink the film, including May Hallett as a very unconvincing ayah (she bears an uncanny resemblance to Agnes Moorehead, and is just about as authentically Indian). However, the British roles are superbly acted, with a suitably Michael Farrar as a scornful local contact for the nuns, and Kathleen Byron as the most disturbed member of the convent. The final wordless sequence of the film is an absolute classic: a brilliantly suspenseful sequence that takes the odd rarefied air of hysteria permeating the film to its highest pitch.
Rating:
Summary: Best British film of all time?
Review: If not the best-then surely in the top ten.The quality of this DVD is hard to beat with the best Technicolor work I've ever seen.The focus is razor sharp and the colors soft and warm. I hope that Criterion release "A Matter of Life and Death" and "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp" in restored versions at some time in the future.Powell and Pressburger-along with Jack Cardiff-did some great work back in the forties and its wonderful to see it get the presentation it deserves.
Rating:
Summary: BODY AND SOUL
Review: British directors Michaël Powell and Emeric Pressburger's BLACK NARCISSUS is one of the 50 most important movies ever presented. Shot right after WWII, in the London studios, it had the almost impossible task to bring the audience into the middle of the Himalaya mountains, in an ancient palast given to the Order of Mary by the Maharadjah of this region. As soon as the action takes place in this lost spot, you're going to be shuffled by the howling wind that never stops and the cinematography in Technicolor of Jack Cardiff. The restoration of the images by Criterion is perfect and this copy is without a single doubt the definitive presentation of BLACK NARCISSUS for home movies addicts. " Black Narcissus " is the name of an european scent innocently brought into the nunnery by the son of the Radjah. The scent, the 17 years old Jean Simmons, the clear air and water of the Himalaya will soon affect the women who, in the solitude of their cells, are fighting against the demons of jealousy, souvenirs of their past and carnal pulsions. Observe how David Farrar, the british eye for the country, is literally undressed by Michaël Powell visit after visit. His last visit to the nunnery, in the middle of the night, with only a short on will set on fire Kathleen Byron, the weakest of the nuns. The last 15 minutes of BLACK NARCISSUS are a model of suspense and a lesson of cinema given by Michaël Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Bonus features include a commentary recorded in 1988 by Michaël Powell (yes!) and his longtime admirer Martin Scorsese, a trailer and photographies of deleted scenes. A DVD that should be in your library.
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