Black Narcissus (1947)

Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. With Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird. After opening a convent in the Himalayas, five nuns encounter conflict and tension - both with the natives and also within their own group - as they attempt to adapt to their remote, exotic surroundings.

Black Narcissus is a 1947 Technicolor erotic film drama film by the British writer-producer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the 1939 novel by Rumer Godden.

This explosive work about the conflict between the spirit and the flesh is the epitome of the sensuous style of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. A group of nuns—played by some of Britain’s finest actresses, including Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, and Flora Robson—struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad. A darkly grand film that won Oscars for Alfred Junge's art direction and Jack Cardiff's cinematography , Black Narcissus is one of the greatest achievements by two of cinema’s true visionaries.

Why does Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Black Narcissus still cast such a strange spell 70 years later?

In this unusual, visually stunning, and dramatically compelling film, Anglican nuns attempt to establish a school and hospital in the Himalayas in buildings that formerly housed a harem. But the sisters find the sensual atmosphere unsettling, and eventually sexual attraction to the ruling general's ruggedly handsome agent leads to tragedy.

The Allure and Shock of 'Black Narcissus' 70 Years Later - Film School Rejects

Amazon.com: Black Narcissus (The Criterion Collection): Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Jenny Laird, Judith Furse, Kathleen Byron, Esmond Knight, Sabu, Jean Simmons, May Hallatt, Eddie Whaley Jr., Shaun Noble, Jack Cardiff, Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell, George R. Busby, Rumer Godden: Movies & TV