410 Under the Volcano

[GringoTex]

Outstanding movie. One of the great "old man" films - Huston has nothing to lose and nothing to learn at this point, and his directing is both effortless and fearless as a result. Very similar to late Bunuel, Bresson, and Eastwood in that regard.

[colinr0380]

DVD Times review

[BWilson]

Having now watched Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry, I don't see how it could have been an IMAX film. Most of it is shot 16mm. If the location stuff in Mexico was shot 70MM IMAX and the whole thing cut together it would be an eye sore; jumping from grainy 16 to detailed IMAX. The program is way too long to be IMAX. The average length of 1970's IMAX was 35-40 minutes. What gives?

[Grigulevich]

Having now watched Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry, I don't see how it could have been an IMAX film. Most of it is shot 16mm. If the location stuff in Mexico was shot 70MM IMAX and the whole thing cut together it would be an eye sore; jumping from grainy 16 to detailed IMAX. The program is way too long to be IMAX. The average length of 1970's IMAX was 35-40 minutes. What gives?

Respectfully (this being my first post on the criterium forum), the previous poster Jeff is talking through his hat regarding "Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry" being an IMAX film!

Yes, there was a short seven minute film from 1973 called "Volcano" but it has nothing to do with the Richard Burton-narrated documentary...

[Jeff]

Respectfully (this being my first post on the criterium forum), the previous poster Jeff is talking through his hat regarding "Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry" being an IMAX film!

Yes, there was a short seven minute film from 1973 called "Volcano" but it has nothing to do with the Richard Burton-narrated documentary...

IMDb (which is often wrong) lists it as using a combination of 16mm and IMAX. Perhaps it's just a mix-up because director Donald Brittain was known for his use of IMAX and for directing the first IMAX film.

[Grigulevich]

Absolutely, quite a series of happenstance & coincidence! And imdb is certainly quite quite often not to be trusted...

[BWilson]

Thinking about this in the shower (where I do all my finest thinking), it occured to me that imdb is wrong (obviously) and that the person/people who put up the info about this being an IMAX film were confused by the title: Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry

Valcano does indeed sound like an IMAX title.

[Narshty]

Some thoughts: a very, very interesting film indeed. Even when it doesn't work (which is fairly often) it's rivetingly intelligent and uncompromising. The lack of fussiness in Huston's direction is dazzling, and a fine example of "old man" cinema. Despite all the plaudits, Albert Finney overdoes it a bit, despite being often very funny, and Anthony Andrews just does Sebastian Flyte all over again. The real revelation is Jacqueline Bisset who I never remotely rated as an actress before, but she's terrific here.

The crap sub-Fellini weirdness of the final brothel scenes doesn't quite prepare you for the genuinely powerful finale. It's a grandly electric final few minutes and wonderful when a director can really pull it together for the end, even if the rest of the film is a touch wishy-washy.

The extras seem good, but I have to have a fanatical excitement about the film (or, for that matter, its makers) to go through anything nowadays. The 99-minute Volcano documentary on Lowry that I was looking forward to is a real disappointment. It's about as informative and stimulating as your average Wikipedia article. No wonder Harlan County USA thrashed this at the Oscars.

[Michael]

Half worth of Under the Volcano is phenomenal but the rest is pretty decent. Never a fan of Finney but he is very riveting to watch as the ruined diplomat. Beautifully dusty visual tour of Mexico and occasional unexpected humor saved the film for me but I didn't care for the finale.

Spoilers...

Unlike the diplomat's death, strangely his wife's death did nothing to me. If editing her death out and focusing more on the diplomat's last moments and beyond, I think the ending would be more shattering. The wife's death distracted me from my ultimate and necessary attention on the diplomat whom the whole film completely devoted to. Let her run with the cowboy, who cares. While Bisset is wonderful, the film belongs to Finney.

[Napier]

Agreed Michael, the wifes death definitely distanced me at the end of the film.It seems maybe Huston was paying homage to Treasure of the Sierra Madre finale in which Dobbs meets a similar demise to the bandeleros. Having never read the source novel I wonder if someone could shed light on her death in the book.Anyway I was totally riveted from start to finish by Finney's performance.

[Mr Pixies]

Funny, I read that and thought, when does the wife die? I don't remember that... what, a horse knocks her down? I thought his death was so sad that all else lost it's significance, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention...But I liked the film very much, it's drunken approach leaves stuff all over the place and makes it hard to recollect anything beyond his death and that he drank a lot.

[glaswegian tome]

Under the Volcano is my favorite novel. Yvonne does indeed die the same way in the novel as its portrayed in the film, but for some reason its far less powerful to see on screen. Something about it doesn't work, though I can't really say what it is. The book is heartrending. The film, however..... let's just say it's my least favorite novel to film adaptation pretty much ever.

[Narshty]

Strange, I had the opposite reaction. It's a nice, meandering film for the most part, with some very funny parts (sleeping in the middle of the road, howling at the fairground ride) while managing to just avoid slapstick, but the end is where I really sat up and Huston pulled it out of the hat. The wife's death is a bit of a flourish, but the touch of Anthony Andrews removing his hand from the back of her neck to have it covered in blood is truly chilling. Not a great film, but a fascinating one.

Roll on Wise Blood.

[Taketori Washizu]

I would like to read the novel, because I suspect it is far more satisfying than this adaptation. One of the major criticisms of Huston's film is that it lacks Lowry's stream of consciousness style and symbolism present in the book, from what I've heard. Maybe this is just one of those cases where you have a difficult book that can't just be properly translated to screen. Ulysses being the obvious example. I just couldn't get into this film. Everything is unengaging and flatly shot by Huston. Nothing about the scenery is remarkable. It has no interesting atmosphere to sustain the meandering plot. I don't mind a story that abandons traditional narrative to just focus on a character but Finnery's alcoholic diplomant is so paper thin from the begining. I don't get a sense of who this person is and by the end of the journey I'm still unclear. Big disappointment. The Man Who Would Be King is still Huston's best film in an uneven directorial career.

[HistoryProf]

I'm not sure what to say about this flick. Finney is mesmerizing throughout, but at the same time I never really grasped what was supposed to be so tragic about his life. is he an alcoholic because his wife slept with his half brother? or did she sleep with his half brother because he's an alcoholic? Bisset's character just seemed TOO guilty and was taking too much credit for his state and I just couldn't quite parse what we were supposed to know about their past. Not having read the book, I can only imagine this would be a film that those who had would not enjoy at all. It's clear there's a whole lot missing.

The setting, however, is outstanding - Huston in Mexico is certainly where he thrived the most in my opinion. Between this, Sierra Madre, and Night at the Iguana, there was something special there for him. Sure does make it seem like a dreary place though!

Watching the Bisset interview now...she looks great. makes me want to pop in one of my early teen favorites: The Deep

She does say something interesting though: that she was hesitant about the part because Yvonne is "part of Finney's hallucinations." We aren't supposed to believe she isn't actually there are we? That she dies at the end because he does? Can those who've read it shed light on what she meant by that?

[rohmerin]

One of the most underrated films in History.

I'd like you to name films with a brothel as much SORDID as in this film. Gracias.

[beamish13]

I absolutely love this film, too. Unbelievable how Huston ended his directorial career with what may be his 3 finest works. It's criminal that this is still screenwriter Guy Gallo's only produced work. He recently published an excellent book on screenwriting that's culled from his years of teaching at NYU and Columbia

[Roger Ryan]

...Unbelievable how Huston ended his directorial career with what may be his 3 finest works...

At the time, given Huston's age and health concerns, I was worried his last three films were going to Phobia, Victory and Annie!

[beamish13]

...Unbelievable how Huston ended his directorial career with what may be his 3 finest works...

At the time, given Huston's age and health concerns, I was worried his last three films were going to Phobia, Victory and Annie!

Exactly! He didn't even plan for The Dead to be his last, as his son Danny only directed Mr. North when it became evident that his health was just too much of a liability.