Film Review: Black Narcissus

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s Black Narcissus (1947) is a film about a group of nuns up in the Himalayas. The story is filled with hidden meanings and symbolism. This review will be using the theory of semiotics to take a deeper look into the nun characters of the film, mainly focusing on the colours and lighting. Key sources in this review include: Charles W. Morris’ Signs, Language, and Behavior (1946), Craig McCall’s documentary Painting with Light (2007) and Jacob Olesen’s Color-Meanings.com. The main question of this review is: How does colour and lighting affect the way each character is presented and interpreted.

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols. The theory looks at various elements such shapes, colours and objects to judge the emotions and meanings that they represent. Some semioticians believed that connecting signs with other elements allowed for better understanding of said signs. Charles W. Morris broke the concept down into three categories: 

• Pragmatics - “the relation of signs to interpreters,” 
• Semantics - “the relations of signs to the objects to which the signs are applicable,”
• Synatactics - “the formal relations to one another.” (Morris, 1946: 217)

All three of these sub-theories are important as they can be used to show a sign or symbol in different light depending on who is interpreting the sign, what objects are associated with the sign and what other signs are also connected with it.

Fig. 1. Black Narcissus Poster (1947)

Black Narcissus starts with a small group of nuns moving into the Himalayas to create a school out of an old harem building. The task however turns out to more difficult than they had anticipated as characters such as Mr. Dean and Kanchi, as well as the environment itself, start bringing up repressed thoughts and feelings within the nuns. Things come to ahead when one of the nuns, Sister Ruth, becomes obsessively infatuated with Mr. Dean and becomes incredibly jealous of Sister Clodagh, who has her own issues relating to Mr. Dean. The film ends with Ruth trying to kill Clodagh, only for Ruth to fall to her own death. Afterwards, the remaining nuns pack up and leave.

Lighting was a very important element used throughout the film. Inspired by artists like Vermeer and Rembrandt, Jack Cardiff, the cinematographer on Black Narcissus, wanted to keep the lighting quite clear and simple (Cardiff, 2007). The simplicity of the lighting used allows the viewer to grasp what they should be feeling at certain times and with different characters.

Fig. 2. The nuns praying (1947)

As shown here in Figure 2, most of the nuns and the child are shown in bright, natural light. Thinking of semantics and pragmatics, clear light illuminating women of faith and children can easily been seen as signifying purity and innocence. The opposite, however could be said for Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron), shrouded in darkness on the left.

“He [Jack Cardiff] gave me half of my performance with the lighting.” (Byron, 2007)

The character of Sister Ruth is one that is shown to be very dangerous. While she was still a nun, Sister Ruth was almost always seen in shadow. This could be interpreted as her having a dark, menacing presence. As shadows and darkness become more and more prominent in the film, showing Ruth’s downward spiral into madness, it starts to engulf the environment around the other characters, symbolising how they are each slowly falling to their repressed desires.

Colour is another element used throughout the film. The nuns are shown with a mostly white colour scheme with a little bit of blue hanging around their necks. “The colour white is usually associated with being pure and almost heavenly.” (Olesen). White is a very important colour to be associated with the nuns with its symbolism of purity, innocence and spirituality. “It is a colour that symbolizes loyalty, strength, wisdom and trust. Blue colour meaning is also known to have a calming effect on the psyche.” (Olesen). The blue seen hanging the cross in the nuns apparel signifies their loyalty to their religion as well as presenting to others that they are trustworthy individuals. There are three nuns that break this set colour scheme at later parts of the film.

Fig. 3. Sister Philippa (1947)

As seen here in Figure 3, Sister Philippa (Flora Robson) has a lot of light blue in her clothing, “Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquillity, understanding, and softness.” (QSX Software Group, 2002). In the scene where she appears as this, she has been planting flowers when she was supposed to be planting vegetables. Throughout history flowers have been given romantic and sexual symbolism, which in this case presents Sister Philippa’s repression of her sexual urges. After this she is the first nun to leave.

Fig. 4. Sister Clodagh (1947)

Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) is the Sister Superior of the group and therefore has to act like a model nun. For the most part she does, she resists her attraction to Mr. Dean and she tries her hardest to not let her memories of a failed relationship at home distracter from her duties. With her efforts to stay emotional balanced, she begins to wear a little bit of grey (As can be seen around her hands in Figure 4). Grey can be interpreted as an unemotional and detached colour. “Light grey is relaxing and soothing. It can help in difficult life situations. Dark grey is serious, solemn and inflexible. It is associated with self-denial and self-discipline.” (Olesen). Wearing grey signifies her attempts to stay in control of her urges. The same, however, cannot be said for the character of Sister Ruth.

In terms of colour, Sister Ruth is depict the same as the other nuns for much of the film, however something is always show to be off with her. Her introduction to the film shows her covered in blood, this is heavy foreshadowing as to both how she appears and what happens to her at the end of the film.

Fig. 5. Ruth (1947)

Red becomes Sister Ruth's main colour in the later portions of the film. “It is a warm colour that evokes a strong sense of passion, lust, sex, energy, blood and war.” (Olesen). She uses red in many different ways: she uses it to intimidate Sister Clodagh before leaving and she uses it to express her lust for Mr Dean. Red is also used to signify her hatred of Sister Clodagh.

Fig. 6. Sister Ruth (1947)

Red is used in conjunction with her dark lighting to create a truly evil atmosphere around the character.

Fig. 7. Mad Ruth (1947)

In her final scene, her red dress has darkened to the point of looking black. “Black is a colour that is often used to portray something evil, depressing, scary and even death in the Western civilization.” (Olesen). Her appearance in black for this scene can signify a couple different things: 1. that she is too far gone and cannot be redeemed and 2. this is the scene where she dies. In this scene she is truly seen as an opposite to Sister Clodagh with her white and blue clashing with Ruth’s black and red.

Black Narcissus is a film that uses colour, lighting and other signs to show the films themes and emotions. By understanding and using the theory of semiotics, interpreters can see the meanings and connections of these signs, allowing for a more enriching viewer experience. 

Bibliography

Morris, C. (1946) Signs, Language, and Behavior. [Online] At: https://www.scribd.com/document/354976225/Morris-Charles-Signs-language-and-behavior-1946-Harvard (Accessed on 2nd March 2019)

Olesen, J. (Unknown) Color Meanings. At: https://www.color-meanings.com/ (Accessed on 3^rd March 2019)

Painting with Light. (2007) [Documentary] At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuwU_f42dUk (Accessed on 9^th November
2018)

QSX Software Group (2002) Color Meaning. At: http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html (Accessed on 9th November 2018)

Illustration List

Figure 1. Black Narcissus Poster. (1947) [Poster] At: https://www.cinematerial.com/movies/black-narcissus-i39192/p/7tp9zyh4 (Accessed on 02.02.19)

Figure 2. The nuns praying. (1947) From: Black Narcissus, Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. [Film Still] United Kingdom: The Archers. At: https://lecinemadreams.blogspot.com/2016/07/black-narcissus-1947.html (Accessed on 02.03.19)

Figure 3. Sister Philippa. (1947) From: Black Narcissus, Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. [Film Still] United Kingdom: The Archers. At: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/359584351479590792/?autologin=true (Accessed on 03.03.19)

Figure 4. Sister Clodagh. (1947) From: Black Narcissus, Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. [Film Still] United Kingdom: The Archers. At: https://offscreen.com/view/strangers_in_strange_lands (Accessed on 03.03.19)

Figure 5. Ruth. (1947) From: Black Narcissus, Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. [Film Still] United Kingdom: The Archers. At: https://www.alternateending.com/blog/best-shot-black-narcissus (Accessed on 03.03.19)

Figure 6. Sister Ruth. (1947) From: Black Narcissus, Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. [Film Still] United Kingdom: The Archers. At: https://backlots.net/2012/08/13/religious-thematic-elements-in-black-narcissus-1947/ (Accessed on 03.03.19)

Figure 7. Mad Ruth. (1947) From: Black Narcissus, Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric
Pressburger. [Film Still] United Kingdom: The Archers. At: https://filmschoolrejects.com/allure-shock-black-narcissus-70-years-later/ (Accessed on 03.03.19)