jovana-13676
Had Albert Finney performed all alone in an empty room, it would have still been an equally entertaining film. Yes, for all its tragedy, the film is entertaining. Whenever Albert Finney speaks, and he hardly keeps his mouth shut during the film, it's pure poetry. It's one of the best scripts, not only dialogue wise, but the way it manages to bring to the screen and make us interested in one day in drunk's life. The characters are written so that one can hope for a happy ending - they are idealists. The drunk, his wife (Jacqueline Bisset) and brother (Anthony Andrews) are no ordinary people, they are all romantics who love one another and the world (it's 1938 and Nazism is on the rise), and in turn, we care about them and want this case of alcoholism / broken marriage to be fixed somehow. Or maybe if the guy is doomed then his wife can hope for a better life with his brother? Not so. This movie is like falling off a cliff and it ends abruptly. One can hardly believe it, because it's photographed beautifully and Jacqueline Bisset truly looks heaven sent. The opening Day of the Dead sequence is both stunning and foretelling.
elevenangrymen
Geoffrey Firmin, alcoholic ex-British consul to Mexico, is drunk on the day of the dead in Cuevernica Mexico. His wife has left him, his brother is in Mexico City, and he is lonely. He attends a party, where he gives a drunk nonsensical speech, before going to a bar to drink. It is then that his ex-wife arrives, she misses him, and he misses her.He invites her back into their home, where they talk, and Geoffrey drinks. His wife, Yvonne, goes to take a bath, and Geoffrey goes off in search of liquor. His brother Hugh arrives and sees Yvonne, he is surprised to see her. Geoffrey comes back, and asks his wife and brother to come with him to see the sights. Geoffrey constantly interrupts their trip with drinking. Eventually, Geoffrey goes on an alcoholic rampage, and Hugh and Yvonne look for him, as night falls on the day of the dead....The entirety of the film rests on one thing, the performance by Albert Finney. Since Huston's shooting method is to utilize no tricky camera positions, or flashbacks, Finney's performance has to knock it out of the park in order to sell this story. And it does. In the history of film, the character of the drunk has always been an interesting one. Overplay it, and it can seem comedic, underplay it and it can seem non-existent. To strike the perfect balance is hard, and with little nifty camera tricks out of the question, the film rests on the actors performance.It is generally accepted that the three great dramatic drunk male performances were portrayed by Ray Milland in The Lost Weekend, Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas, and Jack Lemmon in Days Of Wine and Roses. No offense to any to the above, but Finney blows it out of the water. His Geoffrey Firmin is a force of nature. He is so incredibly into character, that halfway through the film I was not thinking in terms of Albert Finney, but in terms of Geoffrey Firmin.He delves into the depths of a character that really isn't that likable, and he doesn't try to make him likable. He plays it like a real drunkard. When he meets a British man after lying on the road, he gets up and begins to mock the man. The man doesn't know of course, but we do. Finney's drunkenness is done to the tee. When Firmin runs out of alcohol he plows through his typical hiding spots in a rage, until moving into the backyard, where he find his bottle. It's a bravura performance.However, Finney is not the only actor who gives a great performance. Jacqueline Bisset, playing Firmin's long suffering wife, gives a wonderful performance. She still loves him, after all of those years, and she thinks she can help him, not knowing he is beyond help. Bisset was quite good in Day For Night, but here she gives a better performance. It's great. The same, however, cannot be said for Anthony Andrews as Hugh Firmin.To be fair, Andrews isn't given the same opportunities as Finney and Bisset, but his character is kind of bland, so it is hard to create a great character out of this. As Huston lived in Mexico, he certainly knew his surroundings, and the cinematographer strikes a great balance between Firmin's surroundings and his drunkenness.I do not like the score, although many people do. I find it sounds almost comedic at points, certainly the wrong kind of atmosphere for this kind of film. The screenplay does a great job of condensing an "unfilmable" novel into a film. Huston's direction is laid back, he lets the story take its course, and lets the actors do their thing. I know why Huston would choose to film in such an uninspiring way, but I do wish he could have made his camera just a little more involved.You can tell he is in control of his film, but it could have been shot in a more involving way. This brings me to my main issue with the film. It is just kind of boring. It moves along at a slow pace, and with characters that are unlikable. This makes it very hard to get into the film. No offense to Huston (or books), the film seems so literary. It never really becomes a film, it feels like an adaptation, all the way down the line.To be fair, that is Huston's style, but I can usually overlook it, most time I don't even realize it, if the plot is interesting. Here the film feels like a showcase for Finney's amazing performance, with the plot being pushed to the side, much as the novel must have been, with Lowry's thoughts instead of Finney's performance. Overall, this is not a bad film. The performances by the two leads are terrific, and it is a fitting third last film for Huston.Under the Volcano, 1984, Starring: Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset and Anthony Andrews, Directed by John Huston, 7/10 (B)(This is part of an ongoing project to watch and review every John Huston movie. You can read this and other reviews at http://everyjohnhustonmovie.blogspot.ca/)
jneelley
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.
