Film Review Black Narcissus

The Black Narcissus was a strange film. Its set on a mountain top and is a school for all the female children. the main characters are the nuns that run the school and another character called Mr Dean who is one of the local handymen that they can go to if they need help or have any questions.
 "A curiously fascinating psychological study of the physical and spiritual tribulations that overwhelm five Protestant missionary nuns in the remote fastness of the Himalayas is unfolded with considerable dramatic emphasis in Black Narcissus."(pryor,1947) its a film that is better to read up upon before watching so that you get a better understanding of the way the film come across as it can be strange and hard to understand. "Five Anglo-Catholic nuns open a school and a hospital . It prospers until a series of mishaps turn the villagers against the nuns. Finally Sister Ruth becomes mad and attacks the mother superior only to bring about her own death."(Priya,2001)

Figure 1

the way the characters are dressed is very generic as the women and nuns are fully dressed and the male character i.e. Mr Dean has hardly any clothing we see him wearing small shorts and hardly or nothing on his back. its like its a message that he is the alpha with his hairy chest as he was a gorilla with his stance and showing his chest to say obey me. the nuns are always dressed the same and never show anything besides their faces until right at the end when sister Ruth becomes crazy.







Illustration
Figure 1 Pamela Geller, (2016), Black Narcissus [ONLINE]. Available at: http://pamelageller.com/2016/10/saturday-night-cinema-black-narcissus-1947.html/


bibliography
Thomas M Pryor The New York Times (1947)
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173CE261BC4C52DFBE66838C659EDE

Jaikumar, Priya, ‘“Place” and the Modernist Redemption of Empire in Black Narcissus’, Cinema Journal, 40 (2), Winter 2001.