Black Narcissus film frame Black Narcissus film frame
  The frame above from Black Narcissus, where Sister Clodagh on the right (Deborah Kerr), attempts to dissuade Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) from fleeing, exemplifies how color communicates.  
  Roll over the central image. Plum-color Bible page edges match the plum of Sister Ruth's velvet dress. But the dress signals Ruth's flight from her vocation and her rush towards madness that kills her.  
  In Ruth’s own psyche, the Technicolor conveys, the nun already sees herself as a harlot. In black and white, this characterization would be indiscernible.  
  Black and white movies veil the world; Technicolor movies ripple it open.