Black Narcissus (Blu-ray) (1947)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Featurette-Profile of Black Narcissus Theatrical Trailer-Original theatrical trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	1947
Running Time	100:43
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger
Studio Distributor	ITV Global Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Deborah Kerr Flora Robson Jean Simmons David Farrar Sabu Esmond Knight Kathleen Byron Jenny Laird Judith Furse May Hallatt Shaun Noble Eddie Whaley Jr. Nancy Roberts
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$18.95	Music	Brian Easdale

    Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were a creative team responsible for some of the most important works of British cinema in the 1940s and 1950s. The two men were known as "The Archers" and together they shared a writing, producing and directing credit on nineteen films including 49th Parallel, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale, I Know Where I'm Going, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, The Small Back Room, Gone to Earth and The Tales of Hoffmann. They were not critically recognised at the time of their work as they were later when directors such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, George A. Romero and film critics/historians such as Bertrand Tavernier and Ian Christie recognised and wrote about their films from the 1970s onwards, especially Martin Scorsese who developed a close mentor-protégé relationship with Michael Powell in the 1980s (for example, it was Michael Powell who suggested the ending to Scorsese's 1985 film, After Hours).

    Black Narcissus was made in 1947 and it was developed at a time when it was generally thought that Powell and Pressburger had possibly reached their creative apex after A Matter of Life and Death in 1946. Black Narcissus moved away from war as a background to a plot, unlike most of The Archers' previous efforts, it emphasised their independent control over their work as the nature of the plot was highly unconventional for the time. The story was adapted from the 1939 novel by Rumer Godden (who also had another famous novel, set in India, adapted later into a film by Jean Renoir in 1951, The River) and it details the slow unravelling and decline of an Anglican convent in the Himalayas. Deborah Kerr plays Sister Clodagh, a young Anglican nun who comes to the Himalayan convent to escape a failed relationship in her native Ireland and who is put in charge of the convent. As the film progresses we witness the deterioration of the intentions of the nuns to set up a school and hospital and adapt the local Indian people, instead we see them fail in their mission and goal, eventually deciding to leave the convent.

    The metaphorical implication from Rumer Godden's novel is that the story is symbolic of the failure of Imperialist England to change the culture of India, eventually leaving in 1948, although the novel may simply be a statement of Godden's feelings about her own cultural background and her life in India.

    Kathleen Byron, who plays Sister Ruth, has the role of a lifetime in this film. Her performance oozes with sexual tension as she mistakenly believes that Sister Clodagh is vying with her for the affections of the local British agent, Mr Dean played by David Farrar. The cinematography by Jack Cardiff is simply exemplary, he managed to highlight every nuance of colour in this film when shooting in Technicolor in the 1940s for the Archers, none more so then with every scene with Sister Ruth, especially after her breakdown and subsequent rejection of her convent orders. When Sister Ruth opens the doors to the convent to approach Sister Clodagh at the end of the film, you will realise why Jack Cardiff won the Academy Award for cinematography in 1947, it is an iconic scene. Kathleen Byron's sensual and unnerving performance will truly resonate long after the film has finished. Steven Spielberg, when shooting Saving Private Ryan in 1998, recognised Byron's performance in this film when he directed her in the film's opening and closing scenes as James Ryan's wife.

    There are other notable performers in this film that need to be mentioned also. Firstly, Esmond Knight who played a role in practically every Powell and Pressburger film despite being legally blind after an accident during World War II plays the Old General. Sabu, infamous for his lead role in Alexander Korda's The Thief of Baghdad in 1940, returns to play the Young General who seeks the affections of the young Indian maiden played by none other than Jean Simmons, famous for her roles in David Lean's adaptation of Great Expectations and Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus. (Sadly, Jean Simmons passed away only recently from lung cancer on January 22nd, 2010)

    Black Narcissus won another Oscar for Art Direction for Albert Junge and this too was thoroughly deserved, especially as the film was not actually shot on location in India, rather it was shot in the studio with the aid of matte paintings and scaled backgrounds.

Video

    This video transfer of Black Narcissus is similar to the video transfer of Brief Encounter. Although it did not receive a full digital restoration for Blu-ray like Brief Encounter, it is still boasts a magnificent transfer.

    The aspect ratio is 1:33:1 full frame, not enhanced for 16x9 widescreen televisions. The video transfer is encoded in 1080p, using the VC-1 codec. This Blu-ray release is also Region free for Region A, B and C.

    The film is sharper than previous efforts on DVD by Criterion in Region 1 and Network in Region 2, which boasted good video transfer in standard definition. There are some instances of noise evident though, but these are minor.

    The Technicolor images in 1080p high definition are truly beautiful, there is so much to admire about the cinematography, especially the shots of nature which contain rich green for the jungle, azure blue for the sky and crystal white for the snow on the mountains.

    There are some instances of minor film artefacts evident, these are only specks which are infrequent. There are also some instances of telecine wobble.

    Subtitles are provided in English for the hard of hearing.

    There is no RSDL change because this Blu-ray disc uses only a single layer, but it still contains a breathtaking video transfer.

Video Ratings Summary

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Shadow Detail
Colour
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Audio

    The audio transfer is not as awe-inspiring as the video transfer, but it is still impressive nonetheless.

    There is one audio soundtrack in English. It is encoded on Dolby Digital 2.0 at 640 kbps.

    The dialogue is clear and synchronised.

    The musical score by Brian Easdale is not emphatic and over-empathised in this mix over the dialogue, but it still adds to the drama, becoming another minor character to the gentle background sound of nature and the ritual of the ringing of the convent bells. Overall, the main thing is that the audio transfer is relatively free of background hiss and noise.

    The audio transfer is essentially mono spread over two speakers so there is no surround channel usage in the mix.

    The subwoofer is similarly not utilised.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
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Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Featurette - Profile of Black Narcissus (24:02)

Theatrical Trailer (2:36)

    ITV have released Black Narcissus on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom. The Region All release of Black Narcissus by Beyond Home Entertainment in Australia is identical to the UK release.

    For the relative bargain price of around $AU15 you would find it difficult to find a better video presentation in high definition for the price. Black Narcissus is classic Powell and Pressburger, which I personally cannot get enough of, and hopefully it will signify the beginning of more releases of Powell's and Pressburger's classic films on Blu-ray for our Region in the near future.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall