Black Narcissus Review: 3 Ups And 5 Downs Review
8. Up - Production
Black Narcissus must have been a dream come true for production designer Kave Quinn. Sweeping vistas and mountain top temples, eerie corridors and vertigo inducing cliff faces are all sumptuously realised here. As Clodagh and her intrepid team make their way to the palace through the valleys and rugged terrain of the Himalayas (actually filmed on location in Nepal), the setting is beautifully captured.
The interiors were all filmed at Pinewood studios (where the original was shot in its entirety) and the mysterious tone of Mopu Palace is lavish, colourful and decidedly spooky. As the nuns negotiate their way through a seemingly unending amount of Indian throws, the internal geography of the palace is intentionally hard to negotiate, as it should be in any haunted house style drama. The twisting corridors lead out to the central thematic set piece, the bell tower, that stands on the edge of a truly terrifying drop to the valley floor hundreds of feet below.
As the nuns approach the steps leading up to the palace, it is reminiscent of the intimidatingly steep stairs of Cirith Ungol which Frodo, Sam and Gollum must climb in The Lord Of The Rings. The sense of isolation is palpable, yet nicely juxtaposed with the serenity of the mountains - truly a place for a religious epiphany if ever there was one.
The nuns themselves sport identical robes worn in the original, a nice touch of detail, bridging the two productions full circle and the beautiful fabrics of the region are used to great effect on both people and interior designs.