Black Narcissus
Reviewer: Jordan Brown
Issue 106 August 2008
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Powell & Pressburger’s classic hits Blu-ray.
The Lowdown: After setting up a nunnery in a remote Himalayan village, four nuns find themselves increasingly seduced by the scenery. When local British agent Mr. Dean begins popping into the place to offer advice, one of the nuns succumbs to a different type of seduction altogether…
Review: With Blu-ray’s main selling point being the image quality, you wouldn’t ordinarily expect a 61-year-old film to be hitting the format quite so early on. Then again, it’s not like many films from the 40s can claim to be anywhere near as visually astounding as Black Narcissus.
Despite being filmed almost entirely at Pinewood Studios with giant landscape paintings standing in for much of the breathtaking scenery, Powell & Pressburger’s take on Rumer Godden’s novel has always been regarded as something of a visual treat. Still, that was back then. Now we live in an age of mind-blowing special effects and pristine CGI. As cinemagoers and film fans we’re therefore kind of picky when it comes to image quality. It came as a gobsmacking delight to see that Black Narcissus’ 2005 restoration job shows off the film’s dazzling aesthetics beautifully. So much so that it puts many high def 80s movies to shame. The colours have never looked so vivid, the textures have never looked so sharp. It’s nothing shy of breathtaking. Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the soundtrack.
Bathing your ears in an admittedly clear but utterly underwhelming Dolby 2.0 mono soundtrack, it’ll hardly make the most out of a surround sound setup. Still, seeing as it was filmed in mono, we can’t grumble too much, as we are getting what the film has always had. Extras-wise all you get is a trailer and a retrospective documentary. In all then, it’s a great looking but slightly disappointing title – especially for £20.
PICTURE: 8
AUDIO: 2
FILM: 8
EXTRAS: 4
DVD Info:
Certificate: PG
Starring: Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Jean Simmons, Kathleen Byron, Sabu
Directed By: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, 1947
Distributor: ITV DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono)
Visuals: 4:3 Letterbox
Running Time: 113 mins
Price: £19.99
Special Features:
Scene Selection
‘Profile Of Black Narcissus’ Documentary
Trailer
