Black Narcissus (1947)

This is going to be a strange one. Right off the bat, i must be said - this is another brilliant film from Powell and Pressburger and might be unique in the sense, it might be equally remembered or more so by its cinematographer, Jack Cardiff than the writer/directors themselves - Cardiff was truly an artist in the broad sense.
But all the way through Black Narcissus, i strangely felt like it would make for a great high-school play.
It's all about love-unrequited and requited, isolation, chastity and devotion. There's fun parts to play, it's theatrical and colourful. I was no drama-kid but that would have been interesting and ambitious... especially in Welsh.
It's about a group of nuns who travel from Calcutta to the Himalayas, to set up a place of education and worship; as i say that, it seems like colonialism but their actions seem more education-based and less in based in Christian-teaching. As they get there, they find their local guide to be the strapping Mr Dean and their building to be a former harem.
They're lead by Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), a relatively young, devout servant of God with her own issues of pain and regret and as you might imagine she finds this Mr Dean, quite boorish if charming. But her problems include a young general wanting to study in this place of women and children as well as an troubled earthy young woman called Kanchi, played by Jean Simmons. Later on, she will have to fight with Sister Ruth, who herself is troubled by the trappings of her vocation.
I may be naive but I'd like to think teenage girls would be all about this sort of thing and it's certainly a great feminist story, where they are strong and complex; who earn their own respect and most them don't have their self-respect dictated by men.
You fall in love with these characters like Clodagh and Kanchi, especially Sister Ruth.
Clodagh is, like a lot of strong women, struggling with little support as gracefully as she can while dealing with inner and outer turmoil and trying to make her sisterhood a success; Kanchi is the definition of a nubile young woman- she's affectionate and mischievous, sensual yet naive. She's just a delight to watch and not over played, something you might worry about since she's played by white woman Simmons. But most of all, I love the character of Sister Ruth, played gleefully arch by Kathleen Byron. If there's a villain of the piece, she's closest as she becomes this demonic unbeliever but you can completely understand her struggle with her vows and unrequited love for this Mr Dean. Maybe I just have a soft spot for the crazy ones...
But as i said at the start, the real star of this film is the superlative work of Jack Cardiff and this film is masterclass of colour and light on film. I mean, this was 3years after WW2, so you know there's no way they went to the Himalayas to shoot this film but there are moments you forget and the film has not aged at all...

I watched Black Narcissus (1947), on tv on FilmFour.
My 2011 in Movies will return with Blitz (2011)...