Continuity mistake: In the scene towards the very end of the film when Sister Ruth goes to see Mr. Dean, she is wearing a great deal of lipstick - in fact, her make-up is indicative of her having left the religious order run by Sister Clodagh. She becomes hysterical and faints. When she wakes up she's no longer wearing any lipstick (no indeed any make-up at all).
Black Narcissus (1947)
1 mistake
Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Starring: Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, David Farrar, Jenny Laird, Judith Furse
Genres: Drama
Sister Ruth: Sister, the schoolroom is overflowing with children. We've nothing unpacked yet. No one understands the language. There are too many of them anyway, and they all smell.
Question: This follows on from the continuity mistake about Sister Ruth wearing makeup. Sister Ruth has been a nun, living under religious vows for many years. After the nuns start their mission in the Himalayas she becomes infatuated with English expatriate, Mr. Dean. Eventually she puts on a fashionable dress, assumes an attractive hairstyle, and even applies lipstick (at the time it was somewhat controversial for any woman to wear lipstick). She then tries to seduce Mr. Dean. Could a woman who has lived a life of religious self denial change into a convincingly steaming seductress?
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Answer: There's no way of knowing. For the purpose of the movie's plot and to heighten the drama and underlying sensual passion, the Sister Ruth character was probably portrayed as being more sexually savvy than a lapsed nun normally would be. She may also have dated a lot as a teenager, watched many romantic movies, or read romance novels before becoming a nun. Also, not all nuns are sexually inexperienced before joining the church. Some enter when they're older, have previously been engaged, married, and so on.
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