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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 112 minutes
Theatrical Release Date: June 13, 1984
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
The 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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Disappointing
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 ... Read More
Rating:  - I Need A Drink. . .
Good grief. UNDER THE VOLCANO was one of the most powerful, disturbing, brilliant novels of the Twentieth Century. Its brilliance was a derivative of its prose, which in turn was the befuddled, delusional musings of the Consul. The reader is inside the head of Geoffery Firmin; unfortunately, the viewer never sees this frightening point of view in John Huston's utterly silly film adaptation of Malcom Lowry's masterpiece.
From its wacky, bizarre opening credits, to its total compression and ... Read More
Rating:  - An Existential Epic!!!
Firstly, I have never read the cult novel which is the basis of the film. I am reviewing the film as just that - a film - and what a film this is! A class act - and an acting class all-in-one. Albert Finney is pitch-perfect in every instance: voice and body language are used to create an absolutely authentic characterization of the Consul. (When Mr. Finney was not awarded the Oscar for his performance it was the equivalent of "Citizen Kane" not having won for Best Picture!) Apart from the acting (all ... Read More
Rating: - a nice film
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.
Under the Volcano is a film about an alcoholic British diplomat, Geoffrey Firmin, living in Mexico. In the film he attempts to reconcile with his estranged wife who is visiting him.
It is directed by the Academy Award winning John Huston who earlier directed many classic films including "The Maltese Falcon", "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director, "Moby Dick", and ... Read More
Rating: - A day for the living and the dead.
Based on one of my favorite novels, Malcolm Lowry's semi-autobiographical Under the Volcano (1947), John Huston's 1984 film chronicles the final hours in the life of Geoffrey Firmin (an anagram for "infirm"), an alcoholic British consul living in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac (Cuernavaca), situated in the shadows of the Ixtacihuatl and Popocateptl volcanoes. Set on the Day of the Dead, 1938, for Firmin the day is just like any other day in the life of a drunk. He is on the brink of self-destruction, ... Read More
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