Institute of Contemporary Arts

Black Narcissus

Powell and Pressburger's highly charged drama is set in a convent high in the Himalayas (although the whole film was shot in a studio) where a group of nuns attempt to establish a school and a hospital. Despite young Deborah Kerr's best efforts to keep things under control, repression turns to obsession as the nuns become affected by the exotic atmosphere and the action becomes increasingly delirious. Another extraordinary Archers tale of cosy Englishness combined with universal, often dizzying, ideas.

Dir Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, UK 1947, 100 mins, U

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