Au-dessous du volcan

This is one of those films that I wanted to see because of the rave reviews I had read about a particular performance, rather than for the quality of the film which was generally described as mediocre at best.

Sometimes its just as interesting to see one aspect of a film (particularly a single performance) standing head and shoulders above anything else.

I was led to believe 'Under the Volcano' was such a film especially after the Halliwell Film Guide (easily the best movie guide) described it as a 'drunken monologue' which was 'fascinating as a tour de force'.

So I expected this to be an average film that focussed almost entirely on and was finally saved by a remarkable performance (by Albert Finney) in the lead role.

The fact that it wasn't had nothing really to do with Finney's performance, the character he plays simply does not allow him to give the sort of performance that I had read about.

His portrayal of a permanently tipsy retired British consul (Geoffrey Firmin) drinking himself to death was fine. However the structure of the film was totally different from how it had been described, there was not a single monologue in the film and it was never the sort of apocalyptic journey into a man's tortured mind that I had hoped would fully test an actor of Finney's calibre.

Instead we see Firmin joined by his half brother and wife (played by Anthony Andrews and Jacqueline Bisset respectively) as they go for a walk and have a journey on a bus.

That is basically the entire film, Firmin's character is surprisingly serene compared with what I was expecting (no rage or acting fireworks at all) whilst Andrews and Bisset play the sort of dotty, stereotypically English twits that wouldn't look out of place in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'.

The fact that the two characters are former lovers is supposed to add tension to the proceedings but it really doesn't.

Although the role never allows Finney to be brilliant, his skill and assurance is in stark contrast to his two co-stars who look awkward in comparison and their limitations are all too obvious alongside a far more talented performer.

So this dull and rather pointless film plods along towards its supposedly tragic but unintentionally risible conclusion which rather than providing shocking drama delivers slapstick comedy akin to Laurel and Hardy.

Why John Huston chose to make this is a mystery, this type of film is destined to fail.

Albert Finney's performance of alcoholism is shattering and spot on. This movie should be required as adjunctive therapy in the field of alcoholism recovery. The feeling of hopelessness that permeates this movie makes it an experience the viewer should be advised about.

This movie packs a punch and Finney's performance is as exact and nuanced as is possible. His posture, his mental states, emotions, facial expressions, use of language, clothing, physicality are completely consistent with those of an alcoholic in an advanced stage of the disease.

Although it's a one-man movie, the other main players act exactly as real people do when dealing with alcoholics and portray the emotions and feelings that surround alcoholic situations.

This movie is definitely not a walk in the park.

An ex-colleague of mine once recommended this movie to me. When it was released in the cinemas he watched it several times, and he said that if i really was a movie freak, this was something i had to see. So, when a few weeks ago this movie was shown on TV in The Netherlands, i did. When i watched it i didn't know where the story was going, but when it ended and a week after it, it didn't get out of my head. After that week when i was doubting about it was a good or an average movie i ended up with the idea that it really is something special. Albert Finney is really great in this picture as an alcoholic (better than Nicolas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas") and i totally agree with my ex-colleague that he is one of his favourite actors. It is not a movie for the masses, but when you are a movie-fanatic it is a must.

This is one of those movies that is always in the discount pile, "Any Rental--99cents'. You find it at garage sales and the like, although I never know why. Perhaps it's the atrocious artwork. Seems a lot of video store patrons base their entire rental decisions on the cover art-I've never heard so many uninformed and ludicrous remarks as have been made in the `User Comments' column for the movie `What Happened Was'-a very smart adult drama. Seems the provocative pose of star Karen Sillas on the cover suggested some sort of couples-therapy Skinamax special. Ooh the disappointment of it all.

Anyway, Under the Volcano is also a very smart adult drama. To begin with, Albert Finney's Oscar nominated performance (he did garner an LA Film Critics award), is superb (1985 was the year Amadeus swept). As the terminally alcoholic Geoffrey Fermin, Finney plays quite a different sort of beast than those played famously by Ray Milland (Lost Weekend), Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses), and Nick Cage (Leaving Las Vegas).

Fermin is adrift in his alcoholism-an educated man, an English Consul, no less, whose losing battle with booze has cost him his job (Consul to Mexico), and his wife. He is at that stage when the bottle is his last and only compadre as it may. He has succumbed to it, long before this drama begins. His resignation is complete, any pretense of normalcy is only a whisper. He is waiting for it to take his life.

Under John Huston's direction, Under the Volcano is basically a one-man show. In support, as Fermin's wife Yvonne, Jacqueline Bisset gives for me the strongest performance of her career.

Highly recommend, but don't expect to come away with sunshine on your shoulders.

There are pointless arguments to be had as to whether Burton and Taylor in the main roles would have been better and wouldn't it have been good to see that Losey or, praise be, the Bunuel version get off the ground, but we have what we have. Almost fifty years on from when I read the deeply affecting book I cannot recall how faithful the telling is although I do retain a memory of it being more intense and foreboding than here. That volcano was not just a pretty picture but something like the forthcoming war that impinged upon the daily life. Nevertheless this is a very fine effort, Finney gives it his all and just about convinces, Bisset is pretty but less convincing and Huston has an eye for the Mexican setting, particularly the Day of the Dead celebrations and the final ghastly booze and debauchery sequence. But then, Huston himself knew more than a little about, not just drinking, but periods of drinking all the time, or as someone says here, 'drinking himself sober'.