Why no guardrail?
So why is there no guardrail where the bell is? Seems kind of common sense to me.
I.S. Oxford
"The books have nothing to say!"
-- Fahrenheit 451
....Or a longer rope for the bell.
MovieChat Forums > Black Narcissus Discussion > Why no guardrail?
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The movie is a fever-dream, a tone poem, and as such, logic has no place in it - except the surreal logic of a dream-state. Why else would Sister Ruth be crashing through a tropical jungle (in the Himalayas!) to Dean's house, or a well-appointed brothel be perched 8ooo feet above sea-level, in that constant wind, unequipped with sturdy shutters and windows ? Watch Black Narcissus again - but remember you're a guest in Powell & Pressburger's dream.
shareWatch Black Narcissus again - but remember you're a guest in Powell & Pressburger's dream.
Lovely, thanks
Steve
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Surely even nuns should have to abide by health and safety regulations.
shareThey would if they went there now - and they were going to somewhere in Britain. But this was set some time before 1939 (when the book was written).
Oh, it wasn't in Britain either
What were the health & safety regulations in a Himalayan principality (unspecified) in NE India, not too far from Darjeeling, at some time (unspecified) before 1939?
Steve
Intersting - a guard-rail is mentioned in the novel - I think Sister Clodagh even slams against it during the struggle with Sister Ruth (who does not wear either the red dress or the red lipstick in the novel, but who, as in the film, is pushed over the edge of sanity by Mr. Dean's rejection.
"Stone-cold sober I find myself absolutely fascinating!"---Katharine Hepburn
But who is brave enough to construct the guardrail on the lip of that treacherous cliff? It makes you think.
shareI'm glad to hear this, because I think that the lack of a guardrail hurt the movie's suspense. The first time I saw that view from above of the bell, I wondered who was going to fall off that cliff. Bad artistic choice by the filmmakers. Otherwise, great film.
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OSHA hadn't quite made it to India yet.
Although it seems like the natural state of the world is to have been rendered safe for your exploration, that's only the condition after lawyers got a hold of the 20th century and took all the fun out of it.
Even today you can fall right into the Grand Canyon. Fences are only intermittent.
So why is there no guardrail where the bell is? Seems kind of common sense to me.
Because "Black Narcissus" has the IQ of a boiled shoe and the integrity of a door to door bridge salesman.
As for the previous post praising BN as a "fever dream," oh, mopu.
"Fever dream" is meant to excuse the film its faults. It's saying,
"This film gets a free pass and can do and say anything it wants."
That's not art, that's self-indulgence. share
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Exactly, "Invariable Self"! I was going to make a post on this subject when I saw yours. At that altitude especially, violent gusts could happen anytime and it looked like they were mere inches from the precipice!! Anyone with a grain of common sense would have had some rail of sorts attached between the bell's supports.
sharemakes you appreciate the health and safety regulations we have today.
shareThat freaked me out every time someone was there to ring the bell. Yikes!
~If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian. ~Paul McCartney.~
That freaked me out every time someone was there to ring the bell. Yikes!Is it any wonder I kept having flashbacks to The Flying Nun? I thought one would surely take off in the wind whilst pulling on the bell rope. share