Under the Volcano

Introduction

Long before Nicholas Cage won critical acclaim for his portrayal of a man drinking himself to death in Las Vegas, Albert Finney was Oscar nominated for playing a similarly self-destructive character in Under the Volcano.

Adapted from the book by Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano follows Geoffrey Firmin (Albert Finney), a burnt-out alcoholic former diplomat in Cuernavaca, Mexico where he hears news that his wife Yvonne (Jaqueline Bisset) has divorced him. She appears out of the blue to find him a wreck, treading a fine line between being too sober and having the shakes and too drunk to function. Her arrival lifts his spirits, but the return of Geoffrey's brother, Hugh (Anthony Andrews) causes tensions to rise, as their mutual attraction simmers under the surface.

Set in 1938 during the Day of the Dead fiesta, this shows the events in the final day of Geoffrey's life in a critically-hailed film by John Huston.

Video

The box claims that this is a newly-restored high-definition digital transfer supervised by film editor Robert Silvi and I'm in no position to dispute this as I haven't seen the film in any other form. The picture has good definition, colour and contrast, but I did notice some luminescent flaring and motion blur.

The location shooting is fantastic, Huston filming in the Morales region, including Cuernavaca, where the locals and landscape combine to give a real feel of Mexico.

Audio

The sound is clear enough but, shockingly, there are no subtitles, unlike the Criterion release.

Extra Features

The box says there's a Theatrical Trailer, but the disc only has the options of Play Movie or Scene Selection. This lack of extra material is a pity and I wish that Mr. Bongo Films had put some time and effort into some supplementary material for the release.

Conclusion

This was a film I really enjoyed, but I can't put my finger on exactly why. Albert Finney puts in a staggeringly good performance and is completely convincing as a struggling alcoholic. I'd even go so far as to say it's the best portrayal of a drunk I've ever seen. Jaqueline Bisset and Anthony Andrews are both superb, but overshadowed by Finney's tour de force.

Malcolm Lowry's novel was considered unfilmable, using Firmin's self-destruction as metaphors for South America in the late 1930s and the collapse of civilisation as War approached, but screenwriter Guy Gallo has stripped it down to the simple story of the events during Firmin's last day.

John Huston is one of the great directors, with films like The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and The African Queen to his name. I don't think this stands alongside his best work, but it's very close and it's a real shame that the disc is so vanilla. If you're a fan, go for the 2-disc Criterion release but, even in this form, it's definitely worth a rental.