'Black Narcissus' … The 'Inception' Trailer Remix
An erotic thriller from 1947 with a 2010 twist
Tomorrow (7/20), Criterion will release Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Black Narcissus on Blu-ray and Special Edition DVD and I watched it over the weekend once again in preparation for my review of the Blu-ray and was enjoying every minute of it, but not only that, the shot I've included just to the right and the sound that accompanied it got me thinking. It reminded me of the fog horns blaring away in the trailer for Inception and with the free time I had I began tooling around trying to make an Inception inspired trailer of Black Narcissus using Zack Hemsey's "Mind Heist" which was used in the Inception trailer that has become familiar to us all.
My goal in this was to 1) have a little fun with a video and 2) try to show the doubters out there a film from 1947 can be just as cool and intense as one from 2010. Of course, the camerawork of Jack Cardiff, direction of Powell and Pressburger and music of Hemsey helped a lot, because I think I actually pulled it off.
Now, in my opinion, this trailer does not misrepresent the film whatsoever. Considering this is a film centered on a group of nuns attempting to set up a school in the Himalayas it's also very much an erotic thriller as I detailed last year. On top of that, it includes some of the very best special effects you are going to see in a film of this sort, especially for its time. It's a film that inspired George Romero, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. It's a film you really need to see and if you're already a fan, the Blu-ray is one to own.
Check out my homemade trailer below and look for my review of the Blu-ray very shortly. If you are inclined to buy the movie now you can click here for the DVD and click here for the Blu-ray. Or, if you are reading this prior to August 1, 2010 you should head to Barnes and Noble where all Criterion discs are 50% off… just click here.
I mentioned it at the end of the trailer and earlier in this post, but just as another note, the music is courtesy of Zack Hemsey who composed, recorded and mixed "Mind Heist" in association with PUSHER LLC. You can learn more from Zack here. I also wrote about Black Narcissus last September in a post headlined "The Ten Steps to Erotic Possession".
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Very nice job, Brad
It worked for the first minute or so, and again at the end, but there's not really enough action to support the fast-paced score in between. Which isn't a problem with the film, of course, just with cutting it to the score for an action-based trailer.
fantastic work brad!
Very nice work!
I'd love to see this done using a Hitchcock film like Shadow of a Doubt.
The idea is there for this one, but with a film as dialogue-heavy as Black Narcissus, the dialogue really needs to serve as the trailer score.
For me, when I saw the Inception trailer, it was the foghorns that sealed the deal for me (along with the shot of the city folding in on itself). That signaled "larger than life" to me. There's nothing about Black Narcissus that screams "larger than life"… everything about it screams "internal despair" (which is ironic, considering Inception's plot…)
That has to be one of the best fan trailers I've seen.
Just watched this film on streaming last week and was blown away by it. Great job! Wish I had thought of this.
Thats pretty intense it seems that "Inception" has certainly taken over your free time lol it has to me to!
Surely Hemsey/Zimmer music made its work but Cardiff
(The Lion-1962) deserves the kudos. Congrats!
You might have just ruined the movie's ending for me. Otherwise, love this trailer remix and I wish I could make those.
And someone work on Inception on Prokofiev or Inception on Vitalic right now! Please? :)