I have now watched this film at least seven times and I am always startled by its majestic photography (all done in England and Wales), intelligent and modern dialog, and the way it dispels the dogmas of Catholic faith through cultural contact, the doubts of a non-believer, the inclement weather, the incredible height of inescapable premises, and ultimately the renunciation of a nun. Michael Powell's direction goes beyond impeccable: It is as near-perfect as one will see. But it is the psychological element, the bottled up hysteria of the nuns against the backdrop of forbidding nature, the aloof British male who is as much a Western peacock as the young Indian general who falls for the "beggarmaid," and above all the unraveling nun that provide the foundations for a riveting film with a climax to match and the most perfect ending sequence I can think of.
Review of Black Narcissus
