Episode

Director Watch Podcast Ep. 145 - 'Black Narcissus' (Powell and Pressburger, 1947) with Special Guest Dave Giannini

Podcast
The AwardsWatch Podcast
Published
Mar 23, 2026
Duration seconds
7596
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Summary

On episode 145 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by Editor-In-Chief of InSession Film Dave Giannini to discuss the latest film in their Powell and Pressburger series, Black Narcissus (1947). Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to break down, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema's greatest auteurs. In doing so, they will look at their filmographies, explore what drives them artistically and what makes their decision making process so fascinating. Add in a few silly tangents and a fun game at the end of the episode and you've got yourself a podcast we truly hope you love. In taking a darker turn with their latest film, Powell and Pressburger explore the role of temptation, guilt has on the mind when dealing with religion in Black Narcissus . A film that is about a group of nuns coming to a small village to spread their word of god only to be internally turned upside down by the human impulses being challenged by their beliefs in god and their mission, thus leading to one of the hottest, most complex films the duo ever created. Ryan, Jay, and Dave break down their thoughts on the film, the religious conversations the film is having, how gorgeous the film is, how sexy David Farrar is as Mr. Dean, the use of color photography in the film, and a silly summer movie bet between the two co-hosts that is from a galaxy far, far away. You can listen to the Director Watch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more. You can also listen on the AW YouTube page. This podcast runs 2h06m. The guys will be back later this week to continue their series on the films of Michael Powell and Emeric…