Black Narcissusis a horror film. Basically a haunted house film with a slight element of demonic possession (though that's not all it is). But yes, that moment never fails to give me a frisson. I love it love it love it. One of my favorite moments in all of cinema.
I never fully understood what gave this movie its name. There is Sabu, of course. But I refuse to believe that the title only refers to his character. Fill me in, please, I really would like to know your thoughts.
If I had to guess, I would say that the Black Narcissus perfume that the young general wears acts as a kind of metaphor for the exotic (erotic) essence that pervades the film and that has catastrophic effects on some of the nuns. It's heady and seductive, a little decadent, and completely overpowering. I'm about to read the original novel, so maybe there is more insight available there.
Not sure whether we must spoilerize the discussion of such a well-known scene, but here goes:
Matt wrote:I'm of the opinion that Spoiler
Black Narcissusis a horror film. Basically a haunted house film with a slight element of demonic possession (though that's not all it is). But yes, that moment never fails to give me a frisson. I love it love it love it. One of my favorite moments in all of cinema.
Spoiler
Mine, too. Calling "Black Narcissus" a horror film is - unless it was a tongue-in-cheek comment - a bit one-sided, though, as it probably underestimates the effect that the subplot with Kanchi and the General has on the overall effect the film has, at least for me. It has a big importance for the extremely 'beautiful' and sometimes close to fairytale-like look the film has.
The film opens different roads and possibilities: romantic fulfillment (Kanchi), acceptance of sexual denial (Sister Clodagh) and rebellion against it (Sister Ruth), and it seems to me that they are all presented as somehow 'valid'. The demonic appearance of Sister Ruth in the end is probably the most memorable of them all, but it's not just that one climactic shot, but the whole build-up to it that makes it so memorable: the moving curtains and the blueish light, and everything being cut to the music (the first real occurence in Powell's work of what he would later call 'composed film' ). So it's that whole sequence that I find unforgettable, with the sight of Byron in the doorway just being the absolute climax of it.
@Killerinstinct: I remember vaguely that at one point of the film it is mentioned that "Black Narcissus" is the name of a perfume, but I don't recall the context right now.
EDIT: Matt beat me to it, and he did remember the context, too.
I too love the Ruth in the doorway scene in the crazy finale.
Another favorite moment: Ruth applies her lips with a lipstick in Technicolor red, completely in lust as Sister Clodagh stares in horror, the candlelight flickering on her face and Ruth’s possessed eyes. Sister Clodagh pulls out her little prayer book and the candlelight keeps flickering, the white wax dripping. What an incredible sequence! It froze me solid in my seat.
I too love the Ruth in the doorway scene in the crazy finale.
Another favorite moment: Ruth applies her lips with a lipstick in Technicolor red, completely in lust as Sister Clodagh stares in horror, the candlelight flickering on her face and Ruth’s possessed eyes. Sister Clodagh pulls out her little prayer book and the candlelight keeps flickering, the white wax dripping. What an incredible sequence! It froze me solid in my seat.
Thanks for mentioning this. This scene is one of the most riveting/horrifying scenes in all of cinema. On the surface it would seem to be wholly innocuous, but P&P turned it into a scene that--no kidding--gave me nightmares.
The moment that is so eagerly hidden in the spoilers is the earliest case in film history which really and truly scared the hell out of me when I watched the film alone at night. Previous horror films often went for mood and creepy atmosphere which works very well in films like Nosferatu, but even Val Lewton's film and his famous bus in Cat People are too gently artistic to deliver such a jolt like Black Narcissus does.
Couldn't yet bring it over me to watch the film again ... and certainly not alone. Too frightened.
lubitsch wrote:The moment that is so eagerly hidden in the spoilers is the earliest case in film history which really and truly scared the hell out of me when I watched the film alone at night. Previous horror films often went for mood and creepy atmosphere which works very well in films like Nosferatu, but even Val Lewton's film and his famous bus in Cat People are too gently artistic to deliver such a jolt like Black Narcissus does.
Couldn't yet bring it over me to watch the film again ... and certainly not alone. Too frightened.
Digression: what about Lewton/Robson's Isle of the Dead? A weak film, but it has the most jolting and frightening bus of the whole bunch... Spoiler
...when the 'revived' wife charges out of the darkness at the end of the tunnel at the precise moment that the yells of the people at the other end are amplified so startlingly by the tunnel's acoustics.
Seriously guys, the big, black spoiler blocks are just becoming ridiculous.
Anywho, I can see how Black Narcissus can be interpreted as a horror movie (it definitely anticipates Ken Russell's The Devils). In fact, I was just thinking earlier today how fantastic it might have been if P&P had directed an all-out horror film. Between this film and the central ballet in The Red Shoes, they could have done wonders for some sort of psycho-sexual thriller in dazzling Technicolor. Imagine a Mario Bava film, only on a higher budget, more polished, and with better acting.
knives wrote:I would label that less of a horror film than BN.The atmosphere and general emotion of PT seems closer to Beauty and the Beast than Suspiria.
I took the comment as PT being part of the post Psycho breed, not necessarily influenced by. The difference here for me between PT and those sort is that there is very little attempt, if any to scare. horror is not an emotion in PT. Powell just comes across as too romantic toward his characters for me to say that it is part of that breed. I'd just can't look at these characters and treatment and call it anything but fantasy. The shunned monster in his ghostly mansion who is redeemed and made human only through the power of love, but nonetheless meets tragedy through the magical personification of his monstrous side is more HCA than the Red Shoes even. Powell transforms reality into a fairy tale, or maybe its vice versa, but it doesn't come across any more horror to me than The Little Mermaid or The Snow Queen.
knives wrote:I took the comment as PT being part of the post Psycho breed, not necessarily influenced by.
That is pretty much what I meant, as Psycho is the more famous of the two films, but I should have stated it more clearly. As I was typing that comment on an iPod Touch, I was trying to use as few words as possible.
knives wrote:horror is not an emotion in PT. Powell just comes across as too romantic toward his characters for me to say that it is part of that breed. I'd just can't look at these characters and treatment and call it anything but fantasy. The shunned monster in his ghostly mansion who is redeemed and made human only through the power of love, but nonetheless meets tragedy through the magical personification of his monstrous side is more HCA than the Red Shoes even.
I wouldn't agree that "horror isn't an emotion in PT", though I see your point. What I find absolutely scary in the film - much more than that Byron scene in BN - aren't so much the actions of Mark Lewis, but the ending when we see the films of the father's experiments and the minute control he exerts over the boy Mark. And what adds an additional dimension of scariness (and additional layers and possibilities for interpretation) is that these are actual home movies made by Powell with his own son, and he himself playing the father. I know that the boy had fun doing those scenes, but it seems that Powell quite intentionally opened a whole can of worms with the implication those scenes have about the (manipulative) power of filmmaking. And the whole thing scares the shit out of me precisely because I always think that the implied point that Powell makes here is spot-on.
Watched the blu on Saturday night and it was simply gorgeous. I'd never really considered the "horror" angle discussed above, but watched it with that in mind this time and it certainly fits some parts. I've always described it to people as a "gothic story of nuns and ethnocentrism in the Himalayas." But yes, Sister Ruth's appearance at the end is indeed chilling.
One question on the image itself: anyone else notice a persistent kind of flicker or strobe effect on the blu ray? I suspect it's a simple side effect of the three strip process and the difficulty in having every frame match perfectly, and it seemed more noticeable in the very gray shots of Kerr et al in the convent or classroom. But it was distracting at times...mostly to the extent that I was simply trying to understand why it was there. But the clarity and colors are absolutely stunning. I about fell out of my chair when I saw the texture of the old Sufi's beard in the first Act. Amazing.
What you're noticing is probably the 'breathing' of Technicolor (I think that's what it's called), a slight instability of the colour which I think is part and parcel of the three-strip process. David Hare is the local expert on this, so I'm sure he can provide more technical information.
Haven't got by Black Blu yet, so apologies if it's nothing of the sort!
HP, I noticed the colour instability (mentioned in my previous post) as well, especially in the shots you mentioned. It didn't distract me as it seemed to with you but it is noticeable and it's why the Red Shoes restauration is superior if not significantly so. And yes, I'd love to hear David chime in as well when he gets to see both P&Ps eventually.
There's something rather endearing about it in such a colorful film: like the color can't contain itself at times and starts to burst outside the lines.
One question on the image itself: anyone else notice a persistent kind of flicker or strobe effect on the blu ray? I suspect it's a simple side effect of the three strip process and the difficulty in having every frame match perfectly, and it seemed more noticeable in the very gray shots of Kerr et al in the convent or classroom. But it was distracting at times...mostly to the extent that I was simply trying to understand why it was there.
I had the same problem with the Australian port of the ITV disc. Very distracting at times. interesting that this hasn't been mentioned in the reviews I've read. I have the Criterion on order, having sold the ITV edition. Sounds like the same image, with a few more tasty extras.
I've only just sampled the Criterion BD, but it looked much better in this concern than did the original Criterion DVD which, for me, was unwatchable due to the extreme color strobing.
The strobing is much more marginal than the previous release, and I have gotten used to it but every so often in the new release it will stick out like a sore thumb. I don't mind it much, sort of because I agree with what mfunk says, even if it isn't intentional.
