Click here to buy posters! Cynics may dub this lavish production Brief Encounter in the Himalayas and not without reason. Stripped of most of its finery, the picture [based on the novel by Rumer Godden] resolves itself into the story of two sex-starved women and a man. And since the women are nuns, there can be no happy ending except perhaps in the spiritual sense. But like most of Powell/Pressburger work it is beautifully told and I defy anyone not to say that this is another example of the duo unfolding filmic art before our susceptible eyes. At the invitation of an Indian ruler, five sisters of an Anglo-Catholic order open a school and hospital in a remote Himalayan village. They occupy an ancient palace, once known as 'The House of Women', built on a ledge 6,000 feet in the air. The nuns find their task overwhelming and Deborah Kerr, as the sister in charge, has to call for help on the cynical British agent, David Farrar, in spite ot her instinctive antagonism. To add to their worries, a native girl in need of a few months cloistering is boarded with the nuns by Farrar. The peace of the convent is further disturbed when the young general heir to the ruler enrolls as a pupil. Materially the work of the convent prospers, but Sister Kerr feels that spiritually most of the nuns are out of harmony. Her thoughts stray back to her girlhood sweetheart in Ireland. Another Sister is obviously thinking too much of Farrar and is taken to task. Production has gained much through being in color. The production and camerawork atone for very minor lapses in the story, the brilliant Jack Cardiff's photography being outstanding. The cast has been well chosen, Kerr does well in a difficult role. Most effective acting comes from the mesmirising Kathleen Byron who has the picture's plum as the neurotic half-crazed Sister Ruth. 5 STARS OUT OF 5 OSCARS: 1947: Best Color Cinematography. Color Art Direction black narcissus dvds | videos al pacino | michelle pfeiffer yul brynner | christopher plummer | romy schneider the godfather | the godfather part ii marlon brando | james caan | diane keaton | al pacino laurence olivier | clark gable | vivien leigh | leslie howard | alfred hitchcock | robert montgomery | grace kelly olivia de havilland | humphrey bogart | howard hawks | frank capra | charlie chaplin | lauren bacall | fritz lang jean harlow | greta garbo | ava gardner | audrey hepburn | edward g. robinson | john garfield erich von stroheim | wim wenders | madeleine carroll | marlene dietrich | rita hayworth michael powell dvds michael powell videos black narcissus dvds | videos al pacino | michelle pfeiffer yul brynner | christopher plummer | romy schneider the godfather | the godfather part ii marlon brando | james caan | diane keaton | al pacino laurence olivier | clark gable | vivien leigh | leslie howard | alfred hitchcock | robert montgomery | grace kelly olivia de havilland | humphrey bogart | howard hawks | frank capra | charlie chaplin | lauren bacall | fritz lang jean harlow | greta garbo | ava gardner | audrey hepburn | edward g. robinson | john garfield erich von stroheim | wim wenders | madeleine carroll | marlene dietrich | rita hayworth Page created by: lenin@netcomuk.co.uk Changes last made: 2004