| | | A Film by John Huston.
Features: DVD
Under the Volcano follows the final day in the life of self-destructive British consul Geoffrey Firmin (Albert Finney, in an Oscar-nominated tour de force) on the eve of World War II. Withering from alcoholism, Firmin stumbles through a small Mexican village amidst the Day of the Dead fiesta, attmepting to reconnect with his estranged wife (Jacqueline Bisset) but only further alienating himself. John Huston's ambitious tackling of Malcom Lowry's towering "unadaptable" novel gave the incomparable Finney one of his grandest roles and was the legendary The Treasure of Sierra Madre director's triumphant return to filmmaking in Mexico.
"Captures and conveys the hot music of what some literary critics have called the greatest religious novel of the twentieth century..." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
"...there will be few unmoved by Finney's towering performance as the tragic Britisher..." Variety
Editor's Note
A boozing ex-British consulate, his estranged wife and his half-brother suffer in a private hell in Cuernavaca, Mexico, 1939, on "El Dia De Los Muertos" (The Day of the Dead). From Malcolm Lowry's 1947 novel. Academy Award Nominations: 2, including Best Actor--Albert Finney.
Plot Summary
John Huston's screen adaptation of Malcolm Lowery's powerful meditation on self-destruction and personal despair. The hero is Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic ex-British consul living in Mexico on the eve of World War II. Tormented by his wife's infidelity, Firmin celebrates the Day of the Dead by drinking himself to death despite his wife and her lover's efforts to save him. |
| Features | Notes From Under The Volcano (1984), A 59 Minute Documentary By Gary Conklin | | Volcano: An Inquiry Into The Life & Death Of Malcolm Lowry (1976), 99 Minute Documentary | | 1984 Audio Interview With Huston Conducted By French Film Critic Michel Ciment | | A New Essay By Film Critic Christian Viviani | | Audio Commentary Featuring Producer Michael Fitzgerald & More | | Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono | | Interactive Menus | | New Audio Interview With Screenwriter Guy Gallo | | New Video Interview With Jacqueline Bisset | | New, Restored Hi-Def Digital Transfer, Supervised By Film Editor Roberto Silvi | | Scene Selection | | Theatrical Trailers |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 10/23/2007 |
| Running Time: 112 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1984 | | Catalog ID: 1718 | | UPC: 00715515026420 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew | Albert Finney | | Anthony Andrews | | Jacqueline Bisset | | Katy Jurado | | Alex North - Original Music By | | Gabriel Figueroa - Cinematographer | | Gunther Gerszo - Production Designer | | Guy Gallo - Screenplay | | John Huston - Director | | Jose Rodriguez Granada - Art Director | | Malcolm Lowry - Based On Novel By | | Michael Fitzgerald - Executive Producer | | Moritz Borman - Producer | | Roberto Silvi - Editor |
| Awards |
Nominee (1985) | | | Golden Globe, Albert Finney, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama | | | Golden Globe, Jacqueline Bisset, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture | | | Oscar, Albert Finney, Best Actor in a Leading Role | | | Oscar, Alex North, Best Music, Original Score | |
Nominee (1984) | | | Cannes Film Festival, John Huston, Golden Palm Award |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...Especially impressive for the courage, intelligence and restraint with which it tackles [the] impossible....Daring..." 06/13/1984 p.C21Variety
"...A triumphant artistic success....[Finney] is simply extraordinary..." 05/23/1984 Sight and Sound
"[Finney's] Geoffrey Firmin is one of the most unnervingly and heartbreakingly convincing alcoholics ever capture on film..." 10/01/2008 p.95 Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
John Huston, the sure-footed old veteran who directed the film, wisely leaves out the symbols and implications and subtexts and just gives us the man. Lowry's novel was really about alcoholism, anyway; the other materials were not so much subjects as they were attempts by the hero to focus on something between his ears...The movie belongs to Finney, but mention must be made of Jacqueline Bisset as his wife and Anthony Andrews as his half-brother. Their treatment of the consul is interesting. They understand him well. They love him (and, we gather, each other). They realize nothing can be done for him. Why do they stay with him? For love, maybe, or loyalty, but also perhaps because they respect the great effort he makes to continue to function, to "carry on," in the face of his disabling illness. Huston, I think, is interested in the same aspect of the story, that within every drunk is a man with self-respect trying to get free. - Roger Ebert
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