Under the Volcano - Criterion Collection
by John Huston
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Albert Finney, Anthony Andrews, Ignacio L?pez Tarso, Jacqueline Bisset, Katy JuradoDirector: John Huston
Brand: Image Entertainment
Audio: English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 112 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion Collection
Movie Reviews of Under the Volcano - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Disappointing
Summary: 3 Stars
Terrible movie, mostly because of the inadequate screenplay. But it might be impossible to film UNDER THE VOLCANO, just as it is impossible to film ULYSSES, because the story is told through the hero's interior monologue. The external events are mundane, boring. The drama is internal.
Also a terrible waste of Albert Finney, a perfect choice for the Consul. The artificiality of the situations (the movie was made on location in Mexico, but feels every bit as artificial as a movie made on a Hollywood soundstage) hamstrings him, and I don't feel he was properly directed by Huston. His drunk act doesn't quite work.
On the bright side, Jacqueline Bissett has never looked so pretty, and her performance is good.
Forget the movie, but go to Netflix and order the bonus CD, which includes the excellent 1976 Canadian documentary about Lowry's life, VOLCANO. Lowry's friends and family are interviewed, and Richard Burton reads the darkly poetic sentences from the book. You don't get an idea of the plot, but you do get an idea of the grimness of Lowry's vision, the "certainty of sorrow and evil."
The documentary begins and ends with the same fateful sentence, read by Burton: "This is how I sometimes think of myself, as a great explorer who has discovered some extraordinary land from which he can never return to give his knowledge to the world: but the name of this land is hell."
Summary of Under the Volcano - Criterion Collection
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.System Requirements:Running Time: 112 Mins. Genre:?DRAMA Rating:?R UPC:?715515026420 Manufacturer No:?CC1718DDVDThe Criterion Collection release of Under The Volcano reaffirms director John Huston's affinity for tragedies starring outcasts and wayward souls (see also The Misfits and Night of the Iguana). Adapted from Malcolm Lowry's novel set in Cuernavaca, Mexico, 1938, on the eve of WW II, Under The Volcano recounts the tragic life of British Consul Geoffrey Firmin's (Albert Finney) final struggles with alcoholism during Day of the Dead, as his estranged wife, Yvonne (Jaqueline Bisset) returns from New York to patch up their marriage and to encourage his sobering up. From the opening scene, Firmin is relentlessly drunk, mumbling Shakespearean-like rants with a dark sense of humor about the horrors of war and the perils of love. Finney's stunning performance recalls the best of Richard Burton (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), who was originally offered the role. Fortunately for the viewer, Finney was cast, as his compellingly dour portrayal of Firmin is undeniably masterful. Set in bars, restaurants, and amongst the plaza's Dia de los Muertos festivities featuring devils and skeletons alongside garlands and balloons, Under The Volcano's visual splendor underscores the decadence of Finney's drinking habit. There is not a single shot missing a bottle of liquor, and as Finney's health deteriorates the weather in the film subtly mimics his psychological state. The film is as wondrous as it is devastating. Included as extras on this DVD are the Richard Burton-narrated "Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life of Malcolm Lowry," a captivating documentary about the author's life, and an hour-long documentary about the making of the film. --Trinie Dalton
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