Black Narcissus in 35mm nitrate

Black Narcissus in 35mm nitrate

In-person: Thelma Schoonmaker.

Instructed to establish a nunnery high in the Himalayas, Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) enlists others from her congregation to found a school and hospital in the palace of Mopu, where the unrelenting winds and extraordinary beauty of the landscape distract the sisters from their mission. With hues so vibrant the images seem to breathe, Jack Cardiff, who won his first Oscar for Cinematography (Color) on this project, pushes Technicolor to its limits, supported by the striking, Oscar-winning art direction of frequent Archers collaborator Alfred Junge in what Michael Powell has called “the most erotic film I have ever made.”

DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. WITH: Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar, Flora Robson. 1947. 101 min. UK. Technicolor. English. 35mm nitrate. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. 

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