Black Narcissus

I cannot help but compare this with the 1947 movie of the same name. This may not be fair but I cannot separate the two. In a lot of ways, this remake is a lot more coherent than the original. At least I found it easier to follow which may be a detriment. Easier turns into simpler and overall, flatter than the original. It misses opportunities to be weird, ambiguous, humorous that the 1947 version did not. My advice, watch the original...obviously. If for no other reason than to see a large man bouncing on a small burro up and down the Himalayas. Then compare it to the simple horse in 2020/ Just one example of greatness vs average.

Black Narcissus is a story of ghosts, wind, faith, frustration, sexual tension and madness. The story has touches of gothic horror with nuns unraveling against a mountainous backdrop. The production values , period costumes and also by the maddening wind, which fills the sound design of the musical score it is extremely effective in this FX miniseries event remake of the classic 1947 film of the same name.

The underrated Gemma Arterton steps into the shoes of Deborah Kerr to play the role of Sister Clodagh, and she made the character her own. Arterton is a very talented actress. She conveys one individual's inner conflicts within an organized religious group; and the suggestion that all the nun's had lives before they became nuns and not all of them are suited to "The Life". She adds depth and tension with her struggle with lust and temptation, regret, devotion, and cultural differences.Her acting superb.

As the deranged Sister Ruth (Aisling Franciosi) is fabulous in her role, falling victim to various desires and insecurities in ways that are heartbreaking.

The performances by Gemma Arterton and Aisling Franciosi sister Ruth (who starts to unravel from pretty much the minute she gets to the Himalayas) are superlative, their facial expressions revealing deep heartfelt emotion and pain.

Black Narcissus FX mini series event was well done. This is satisfying melodrama and wonderful television . Bravo. FX/BBC .

I've never read the book - and most reviewers say don't bother! The '47 film was superb and one can not compare a TV version of 180 minutes with a far shorter film. David Farrar was memorable, and his performance is matched by the current guy, who I suspect is of Italian origin, although married to Emily Mortimer. Professional TV critics in the UK have a very mixed range of stars and that indicates a very mixed range of talent. I suspect the older critics that saw the film will rate the TV series a lot lower than younger critics. For my part the writing and directing are both sub-standard, with ridiculous brief 3 seconds? flashbacks that have no dialogue or clues as to what is being shown. The last two episodes will not be watched by me.

The story was interesting enough, and much better than the usual fare in the "nuns + supernatural" genre. The acting was excellent, as well as the script, though a little slow: basically it's a three hour suspense/drama movie, not a series.

The elephant in the room (or behind the palace) was the fake scenery. This could have been a minor flaw in the execution, except that the fake view was heavily featured throughout, with the apparent intent to be awe-inspiring. But it just seemed to be an actual vista inserted onto a green screen behind the palace set, and/or via CGI. And then when certain effects were added to the skyline to further the plot, they looked hopelessly amateurish and even more fake.

This was three 1.5 hr episodes. Episode 2 was useless. Even with only the first and third episode, I never really saw a story. Why was there a haunting? Did the German monks have the same haunting? Does it only affect women? I'll leave the source of the name a secret. But, it was very lame and is not related to the baseline(?) haunting story.