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An Exercise In Nonsense

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Towards the end of his career, John Huston adapted Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano", depicting a day in the life of an alcoholic British consul in Mexico on the Day of the Dead in 1938. I haven't read the novel but now I'd like to. Albert Finney plays the consul as a man who wants to be able to do the right thing but his alcoholism prevents it, even with the Nazis trying to infiltrate Mexico. I thought that the consul's wife (Jacqueline Bisset) wasn't as developed as extensively as she could've been, but I still liked Bisset's performance. With this movie Huston made clear that he had not lost his touch. I recommend it.PS: Hugo Stiglitz (Sinarquista) was known for various horror flicks. He and John Huston co-starred in "The Bermuda Triangle" in 1978. Quentin Tarantino named Til Schweiger's character in "Inglourious Basterds" Hugo Stiglitz in reference to him.

This is a fairly forgotten gem from the mid-80s, based on the classic and tragic novel of the same name. The film is also the legendary John Huston's third last movie as a director. Taking place in Mexico during the festival known as the Day of the Dead, the film also works against a backdrop of the early days of WWII, and explores the fragmented love triangle between a former British diplomat (Albert Finney), his estranged wife (Jacqueline Bisset), and his adventurous journalist brother (Anthony Andrews).Under the Volcano starts out slowly, following the corpse-like wandering of retired diplomat Geoffrey Firmin as he explores the Day of the Dead and seeks out booze to feed his alcoholism. We're given various clues as to what has left him in such a sodden and rambling state, and we learn that his wife divorced him from abroad. Geoffrey proceeds to drink himself into oblivion, and into the fray enters his erstwhile wife Yvonne... testing the waters as it were for a possible reconciliation. Geoffrey's brother Hugh, recently returned from the Spanish civil war, is at a loss as to where he fits in with regards to their relationship, and also in regards to the world itself. The three decide to take a day trip out of town, with Yvonne and Hugh unsure of where Geoffrey's health and state of mind will literally lead them.This film is a rambling, elegaic swansong to suntouched dreams fortified by alcohol. These three people try to outrun their demons and replace their mistakes with hollow new plans - Yvonne hopes to start her life anew, but Geoffrey's disgracefully drunken state makes him an unpredictable quantity to bank on, especially in regards to whether he can forgive her for the adultery that left him in such a state. Geoffrey tells a story at one point about a colonial named Blackstone, a man who turned native and disliked the puritans who tried to save him so much that he simply just disappeared into the wilderness. There's obviously something about this story that appeals to Geoffrey as he seems to identify with Blackstone so much that he later tells strangers that it's his name, and you can't help but feel that this is the only solution to the problems at hand that he can truly grasp at. Bubbling underneath the surface of the film all this time is a slowly building sense of doom highlighted by the coming of WWII, the ominous woodwind score, and the film's title itself. Geoffrey alludes to a horrific war story at several points, drawing comparisons with the 30s horror film Mad Love (referred to here as The Hands of Orlac) with his belief that "Some things you can't apologise for", and this quote echoes throughout the film whenever the main characters are forced to come face to face with each other's mistakes.This won't be a film to everyone's taste, it starts out as something approaching a travel-drama but kind of mutates into outright tragedy in it's second half. At the core of Under the Volcano is a staggering performance from Albert Finney as the drunken diplomat. Finney was more than rightfully nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his realistic depiction of the life of a hopeless drunk... full of whimsy and cheer and rambling anecdotes, treading a fine line between absolute tankdom and lucidness, and tapping into all kinds of ambivalent emotions that would be far too challenging to a less complex and accomplished actor. Too often the drunk in film is shown as either a figure for comedy, fear or tragedy, but never are they shown as realistically as Finney's characterisation here. I could see shades of every pathetic and hilarious drunk I've ever met at a pub or a party in Under the Volcano's Geoffrey Firmin, and the film makes no compromises whatsoever in showing this for what it is. One of the best performances in film.HIGHLIGHTS: There's nothing quite like a sinister Mexican dwarf grinning while he makes obscene gestures with his hands. I found this bit to be quite offputting and creepy.

Albert Finney's performance of alcoholism is shattering and spot on. This movie should be required as adjunctive therapy in the field of alcoholism recovery. The feeling of hopelessness that permeates this movie makes it an experience the viewer should be advised about.This movie packs a punch and Finney's performance is as exact and nuanced as is possible. His posture, his mental states, emotions, facial expressions, use of language, clothing, physicality are completely consistent with those of an alcoholic in an advanced stage of the disease.Although it's a one-man movie, the other main players act exactly as real people do when dealing with alcoholics and portray the emotions and feelings that surround alcoholic situations.This movie is definitely not a walk in the park.

When Malcolm Lowry's multi-layered novel hit the post war literary scene it was hailed as an instant classic. The stream-of-consciousness and hallucinatory profile of a former British consul drinking himself to death in 1938 Cuernavaca served as a metaphor for the world's imminent fall into the precipice of World War II.Immediately Hollywood responded and a 35-year pursuit of the elusive project began. Orson Welles showed interest. Followed by John Ford and MGM producer Frank Taylor. The list goes on to include director Jose Quintero, actor Zachary Scott and directors Luis Bunel, Joseph Losey, Tony Richardson, Joseph Strick and Anthony Harvey.Why all the interest? Despite the complex literary references employed through the novel, "Under The Volcano" remains one of the most cinematic literary devices ever published. Influenced by the fluid and subjective camera work in F.W. Murnau's silent classic "Sunrise," Lowry succeeds in brilliantly portraying the psychological awareness, panic and deliberate downfall of Geoffrey Firmin amid the spectacular garden-of-eden setting of Mexico with the shinning array of the snow capped peaks of Popocatepetl looming beyond. Symbolism, drama, the d.t.s of alcoholism, mysticism and the ever present hope of salvation are further layers that shaped the novel during it's eight year gestation.Huston's film adaptation discards all the cinematic brilliance for the sake of simplifying the story. In other words, the film eviscerates what makes the novel great and we are left with an adequate performance by Finney and laughable work by Bisset and Andrews. An all round dismal and forgettable film.