Black Narcissus (TV Mini Series) Episode #1.1 (2020) User Reviews

Takes a little time to warm up, but I enjoyed it.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 30 December 2020]

The Himalayas may seem like an inhospitable place, but The Sisters of St. Faith take up the challenge, persisting where monks previously had failed.

I watched the film during lockdown, unaware that this three part adaptation was coming. The film remains outstanding many years later.

I had read some fairly unflatteringly reviews about this drama, but I thoroughly enjoyed this first episode.

The essence of the story is very much there, but they've given it a very different twist, an almost ghostly feel to it, there are undertones here.

Is this one of the most visually beautiful dramas of all time? It has to be, it is stunning to look at, vibrant colours, glorious landscapes, the production team did a superb job.

Very nicely acted, Gemma Atherton is great, and of course wonderful to see the late Dame Diana Rigg.

I thoroughly enjoyed, 8/10.

Episode 1

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 29 December 2020]

The 1947 movie version was a psychological drama of repressed passions of a group of nuns in a monastery in the Himalayas.

It was all shot in a studio in Britain and the movie is regarded as a classic due to the genius of filmmakers Powell & Pressburger. There are good reasons why those two are lauded by the likes of Spielberg, Scorsese and Coppola.

This three part drama has gone more for a supernatural and gothic route. It has also gone for location shooting in Nepal.

Gemma Arterton plays Sister Clodagh. She is an idealistic and ambitious sister superior who has been tasked to take a group of nuns to the Palace of Mopu in the heights of the Himalayas.

They will teach the local children and tend to the medical needs for the villagers. It is all done on the behest of General Toda Rai. His father once run the place as a harem.

Some German Monks tried to run the place a year before and they did not last long.

Sister Ruth soon starts to feel the strain. Like Clodagh there is a hint of selfishness about her as well. She also seems nastier and a little bit racist. Just look at her behaviour when she catches a boy wandering about. She doesn't even notice that he speaks English.

The catalyst is the the handsome Mr Dean (Alessandro Nivola) who turns up as some kind of handyman and Mr Fix It. He is the agent for the General.

The movie version benefitted from the censorship of the time. They could hint at the repressed passions bubbling for Mr Dean.

These days you can type Naughty Nuns in certain specialist search engines and fill your cassock.

So it is the right approach to go for a supernatural psychological thriller route. There is a suspicion that it might be too long as a three part series although the first episode was well paced. It also features Diana Rigg in one of her last appearances.

One misstep of the movie version was the initial scene featuring Mr Dean. He arrives at the palace riding an ass. The television version avoided it.