Black Narcissus (Movie)

"In Pressberger’s dramatic narrative, there really is a drive of character and sexual desire which generated the work of the other filmmakers. In Kathleen Byron’s performance as Sister Ruth, she casts off her nun’s habits for a dress she’s had delivered from Paris. It’s a red dress. That doesn’t happen in the novel and, of course, if it did happen, it could only be described. But in the film, it’s quite wonderful. We see it, we sense it. We see her insane lust for Mr. Dean. It’s utterly compelling. It captivates us and takes us into its power. Another important thing in the film which couldn’t happen in the novel is that Michael Powell had had an affair with Deborah Kerr before the film, and was having an affair with Kathleen Byron while the film was being made. There was emotional and sexual tension on the set in this relationship, which I have no doubt that Powell mined quite consciously. He mined the riches of it for his art. He was quite a tough character but an absolutely wonderful filmmaker. The film is recognized as a classic in a way that the novel perhaps isn’t. But where the novel might stay with us more, in a way, is that we might have trouble now with the casting of Gene Simmons as a local girl, Kanchi, or May Hallatt as the servant. Having these white Brits as people of color is ridiculous. In that sense, maybe the film is dated. But it really lives still in all its vividness."