Black Narcissus
PG 100 mins
PG 100 mins
Puncturing the repressed norms of '40s British cinema to grapple with faith and desire amidst a ravishingly recreated mountain setting, this delirious melodrama may be the most fierce (and, according to Michael Powell, the most erotic) of Powell and Pressburger's films.
In the foothills of the Himalayas, a group of missionary nuns, headed up by the impenetrable Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), attempt to open a convent.
But their attempts are thwarted – and their vows challenged – by both the remote, foreboding environment, and the arrival of a British agent (David Farrar) whose presence sends young Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) towards delirium.