Black Narcissus

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.

I thoroughly enjoyed this three part series, a dark, intense series, packed with tensions, undertones, and a ghostly gothic vibe.

Anyone watching this expecting an action packed drama, perhaps has never read the book, that was never the direction of the original text, instead you get an intense character driven story of repression, passion and jealousy.

Gemma Arterton is the true standout, her performance is excellent throughout, Rosie Cavaliero, Aisling Franciosi and Gina McKee are very good also.

It looks sublime, bright vibrant colours contrasted against the simplicity of the nuns, vast, breathtaking landscapes, it's a visual feast.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, a nice end to 2020, 8/10.

I can't agree with the grumbling viewers here who obviously are not used to thoughtful slow paced dramas. Black Narcissus the new T V version stays fairly close to the Powell and Pressburger classic 1948 film that made a star of Deborah Kerr, although I did see it a long time ago. Gemma Arterton, who I have no trouble watching for three hours, takes the Kerr lead, all very strict and committed on the outside but throbbing with burning passion inside her breast. Her object of desire is the handy man Mr Dean, looking and acting not dissimilar to David Farrar in the film, who clearly feels the chemistry and would like to return it. This can only be achieved on screen by long drawn out moments that build to a finality of some sort, be it happy or sad, but I'm not revealing it here. This pairing is complicated by Sister Ruth who has an overwhelming crush on Mr Dean but finds her love unrequited when she first tells him. This leads to the inevitable triangle, but will any of them achieve any happiness? The nuns are played by some well known actresses including the great Rosie Cavaliero and Gina McKee. Yes, it's slow but my wife an I were hooked for the 3 night showings. Jim Broadbent crops up to see if Sister Clodagh (Arterton) is successful or not at the teaching mission, rather like an area manager checking the staff at Tesco. I loved the special effects, excellent for a TV film, unlike some grumblests on here. I suspect some critics with low attention spans are only used to the fast edit movies of these days and have no appreciation of old fashioned melodramas like this. More please.

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.

Characters lacked depth as did the script and the plot. It resembled a mediocre episode of Death in Paradise, painfully and laboriously stretched out across three tedious hours. Repetitious, predictable and irritating. Given the continual windy conditions one would have also thought Mr Dean might have found time in his busy schedule of getting on and off his horse to fix some bolts on the shutters and a balustrade around the bell tower!