Under the Volcano (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

In order to adapt the lengthy, very dense novel, Huston allegedly just chose all his favorite parts and dumped the rest. I hope the rest were better. No matter what else might happen in the film, the story is centered entirely on Albert Finney´s highly theatrical and very sweaty performance as a relentless drunk. I found his performance extremely irritating; it´s loud, louder and loudest which makes it positively Oscarrific. I respect the complete dedication Finney brought to the role; Geoffrey is, in a sense, a very "pure" character and Finney doesn´t try hard to complicate the picture. But the loud lovable lush act wears thin after about ten minutes; at nearly two hours, I found it unbearable.

It´s hard to find much to recommend about the film aside from the fact that Bisset is in it. Alex North´s score was also nominated for an Oscar, but I found it far too strident. Huston´s late-career films varied between soulless Hollywood projects ("Victory" and "Annie") and deeply personal but unevenly realized projects like "Under the Volcano" and "The Dead." I´m not sure why Criterion decided to include this one in the collection, other than the fact that it´s a John Huston film.

Video

The film is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Surprise surprise, here´s a Criterion transfer that doesn´t look nearly flawless. I suspect most of the problems lie with the source footage, but the image is dark and the colors look washed out, particularly in the sunnier outdoors scenes. It´s still quite good, but definitely not pristine. Criterion has to throw in a transfer like this every now and then just so we don´t take perfection for granted.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the audio which is in English and Spanish.

Extras

Criterion has surprisingly lavished the two-disc treatment on this rather minor John Huston film. Disc One features a hodge-podge commentary by executive producer Michael Fitzgerald, producers Wieland Schulz-Keil and Moritz Borman, screenwriter Guy Gallo, and the director´s son Danny Huston, also an actor/filmmaker.

Disc Two includes most of the goodies.

"Notes from ´Under the Volcano´" (1094, 58 min) is an on-set feature directed by Gary Conklin.

"Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry" (1976, 99 min) is directed by Donald Brittain and narrated by Richard Burton who was an earlier choice for the role of Firmin. Lowry was a troubled writer who spent his last days in a manner not entirely dissimilar to Geoffrey Firmin.

The disc also includes a new video interview with Jacqueline Bisset (18 min) and a 1984 audio interview with John Huston.

The slim insert booklet consists of an essay by film scholar Christian Viviani.

Film Value

If you like hanging out with loud-mouthed Shakespearean-trained boozehounds, you will probably enjoy "Under the Volcano" a great deal more than I did. I found it a grind to sit through; the fast forward button tempted me on many occasions. Still, I appreciate Criterion´s devotion to truth in advertising. "Oscar-nominated tour de force" should read like "Warning: Cigarette Smoking Causes Cancer" to any discerning viewer.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---