The story is very much in two distinct parts, separated by three years. Set initially in the 1920s, VOLCANO begins with a depiction of the hard, but honest, life of a peasant family, irrigating and planting out their rice crops, and praying at a small shrine to for bounty and to ward of disaster. The family's happiness is shattered when their beautiful daughter is carried off by force to be the concubine of a local tyrant, Cao. Her older brother, Song, and father are arrested and set free only after she agrees to marriage with despot. The second half follows the older son, Song, now a seaman in an Indonesian port, where he meets the vivacious dancer, 'Willow Flower', played by Li Li-li. Without giving away more than the English title indicates, an opportunity for revenge for his family's distress will soon be presented to him.
I was quite surprised when first seeing this at how frankly much of the violence is depicted, by which I don't mean that this film is bloody, but rather how un-sensational it often is, as if the audience were already familiar with like atrocities, and didn't need to be stirred by excessive dramatics. Beatings at the hands of thugs and a suicide are simply the results of a vicious warlord, vainly resisted. Even revenge, though sought, is not particularly sweet, but merely a private 'moment' on a much greater stage.
No martial arts were evident anywhere (so I don't know which film another reviewer was watching)! This is not a martial arts film, but a fairly realistic, socially-conscious drama with interesting and well drawn characters, and with an overall 'leftist' tendency, as one would expect from the director Sun Yu, whose credits also include 'Dalu' (The Highway), 'Tianming' (Daybreak) and 'Xiao Wanyi' (Little Toys).
The actors perform well, and Li Li-li (whose character appears in the second half) is as attractive as ever, evidently relishing the chance to show off her legs (which she seems to do in most films I've seen her in) to the delight of drunken sailors. The plot keeps moving and is no more melodramatic than the turbulent reality of the China of the early 30s. Tension builds nicely, and romantic subplots are kept in check, leading to a satisfying conclusion.
