Review of Under the Volcano (1984) by Jurgen H — 02 Nov 2007
Albert Finney gives an amazing performance as Geoffrey Firmin, a British consulant more or less hiding out in Mexico who is drowning himself in booze and seems determined on destroying himself after the break up of his marriage (though he hopes to repair it.
) When his wife tracks him down in hopes of fixing things, it does start to look up but things take a drastic turn for the worst. I can only feel the novel on which the film is based (one I have never read, though have heard plenty about) has more resonance (many considered it unfilmmable) but this adaptation is saved by Huston's directing (which seems more straight forward than what the book is supposed to be) and Finney's incredible performance (I'll just state simply: "BEST DRUNK EVER!") All of this captures the destructive nature of "turning to the bottle" and builds to a hard hitting conclusion.
The DVD is loaded with stuff and I'll be getting through all that over the next bit.
This review of Under the Volcano (1984) was written by Jurgen H on 02 Nov 2007.
Under the Volcano has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
