American Cinematographer - May 2021 - 27

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER ASCMAG.COM

and chooses to leave. But Sister Ruth's loneliness is taking over - as is Sister Clodagh's
desire, with her vivid dreams and their connection to her true self. This is why it worked really
well to let the nuns, in their white habits, merge
into the wintry environment.
" Episode 3 goes more extreme in color. We
wanted all of it - the place, the mountains, the
colors, and the 'other religion' - to take over,
and we felt that more extreme hues were needed. We still kept those colors within the same
palette, but with a slightly unrealistic push,
portraying what the nuns say: 'This place is too
much for all of us.' "
Another element taken straight from the
pages of the book is the color red, which the
author describes in vivid detail. " It couldn't be
a digital red - it had to be something off the
normal color palette, " Christensen says. " We
worked a lot with the color magenta. In every
other movie I'd done, we had removed magenta; in this film, magenta seemed interesting on
their cheeks and skin tones when they're feeling this cold wind. "
Then there's the iconic close-up of Sister
Ruth applying lipstick - one of the small number of shots that pay direct homage to the 1947
film. " That shot is Black Narcissus, " she says of
the scene, " and it's written into the novel. "
Two other tributes to Cardiff's iconic

An exterior from Episode 1 of the miniseries,
shot partly on location in Nepal.

imagery occur on the bell tower. One is a high
angle showing the precipitous drop to the valley below, and the other a low angle on Sister
Clodagh at a climactic moment. " It was risky, "
says Christensen of these homages, " but I felt it
was the right thing to do, to honor a beautiful,
beautiful movie that you can never remake. "
Will Christensen return to directing? " I
would do it again, but I'm not in a hurry, " she
says. " I want to continue to develop as a cinematographer. It's what I am and how I see
things. "

MAY 2021 / 27

p.20-27 Black Narcissus V3 DONE.indd 27

4/5/21 11:24 PM


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American Cinematographer - May 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2021

Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2021 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - May 2021 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - May 2021 - 1
American Cinematographer - May 2021 - Contents
American Cinematographer - May 2021 - 3
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American Cinematographer - May 2021 - Cover3
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