Film - BLACK NARCISSUS

Off the Wall Films presents

BLACK NARCISSUS

Michael Powell / Emeric Pressburger, UK, 1947, 101m, U

NB - Doors at 5:30pm for a 6:30pm start. The programme will end around 9:00pm. Pre-screening supper, available to pre-order only, served in the Waterside 5:30 - 6:15pm. To order supper simply buy a meal ticket as listed above (nb - supper bookings will close at 12:00 midnight on the Saturday before the screening).

A troupe of British nuns are invited by an Indian Raja to establish a school and hospital in the unlikely setting of his Himalayan mountain-top former harem. Their struggle to prevail against the isolation, the alien culture and ‘impure’ thoughts stimulated by the erotic murals they find on the walls are cynically observed by the ruler’s agent Mr Dean, to whom a number of the nuns, especially the unhinged Sister Ruth, are magnetically attracted. 

Boasting a who’s-who cast of post-war British acting talent (Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons, Kathleen Byron, David Farrar) and Oscar-winning production design and cinematography, this daring psycho-drama based on Rumer Godden’s novel throbs with repressed emotion which threatens to detonate across the screen. Powell and Pressburger (‘The Archers’) brought a distinct and very un-English vein of uninhibited Technicolor fantasy to the clutch of gems they produced in the 1940s, and Black Narcissus, “…that rare thing, an erotic English film about the fantasies of nuns” (David Thompson), is one of the very best.

Presented in partnership with the Bath and District Branch of the Royal Commonwealth Society.

“Designed and photographed with an almost breathtaking sense of beauty.” – The Spectator.

“There's something truly unearthly about this place of howling winds, yawning chasms and atmosphere thick with temptation. Sanctity, it will be proven, is no match for sin.” – Time Out.

“Run, don't walk to see this 1947 classic from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.

“In a breakthrough role as the new nun, Deborah Kerr heads a superb cast, including Flora Robson and Jean Simmons, in one of the most stunning color films ever made, deservedly winning the Oscars for cinematography and art design.” - EmanuelLevy.Com

“ … it's the lure, the brooding intensity, and the hidden sensuality, that makes Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus, a magnetic film.” – InSession Film.

“Powell and Pressburger's delirious Technicolour melodrama Black Narcissus continues to weave its intoxicating spell nearly 60 years after its original release.” – BBCi

“But it was an extraordinary performance from the barely-known Kathleen Byron as the deranged Sister Ruth which really stood out. Byron had played an angel in A Matter of Life and Death (d. Powell, Pressburger, 1946), but there was nothing in that role which suggested that she was capable of a performance of such furious intensity.” – BFI Screen Online.

Voluntary donations - Off the Wall Films is a not-for-profit enterprise. All donations - very gratefully received - will go towards improving the OtWF programme and the presentation of films at WSC.

Carers' tickets - we offer complimentary tickets to carers of people with disabilities. If you would like to attend the screening along with the person in your care please message  [email protected]  with your request for a ticket. Please note - you are eligible for this offer only if you are accompanied by a paying person with disabilities.