Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Under the Volcano Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 9, 2015

Nominated for Oscar Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Music, Original Score, John Huston's "Under the Volcano" (1984) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Odeon Entertainment. There are no supplemental features on this release. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The drunkard

The film opens up on November 1, 1938, in the Mexican village of Cuernavaca where everyone is getting ready to celebrate the Day of the Dead. The streets are packed with people and the air is filled with the smoke of burning candles.

But one man isn’t planning to celebrate. Geoffrey Firmin (Albert Finney, Two For the Road, The Duellists), British Council to Mexico, has just resigned his office because a sense of guilt has pushed him on the verge of a serious nervous breakdown. Firmin is also hurting bad because his beautiful actress wife Yvonne (Jacqueline Bisset, Bullitt, Day for Night) has left him.

After a night of heavy drinking, Geoffrey returns home and discovers that Yvonne has unexpectedly returned. She is unsure if they will be able to rebuild their marriage, but is willing to give it another chance and help Geoffrey get back on his feet. Soon after, Geoffrey’s adventurous half-brother, Hugh (Anthony Andrews, The Lighthorsemen), also appears after spending time in Spain and fighting with the Nationalists.

The film is based on Malcolm Lowry’s famous semi-autobiographical novel Under the Volcano, which was published in 1947. For a long time the novel was thought unfilmable, but eventually American screenwriter Guy Gallo adapted it into a screenplay under John Huston’s supervision and the film was completed in 1984. (Before Houston’s involvement with the project the likes of Jules Dassin, Luis Bunuel, Joseph Losey, and Ken Russell had also expressed interest in it, but a feature film never materialized).

Finney is spectacular as the drunken diplomat, but the symbolism from Lowry’s complex novel is largely lost. For example, the suffocating presence of the demons that are tormenting his soul is rarely felt and as a result he frequently looks like a weak addict who has simply given up on life for no particular reason. The nightmarish feeling that the world is headed for another war and nothing can be done to avoid it also seems misplaced.

What is preserved in the film is that deeply seductive allure of the exotic but possibly unforgiving side of Mexican culture. Initially it appears that Geoffrey and Yvonne have been seduced by the country’s natural beauty and fallen in love with it, but later on one begins to wonder whether what they are going through isn’t some sort of a cruel punishment because they simply do not belong there. Geoffrey seems determined to drink himself to death, but at times it feels like he has lost control of his own body. Could the spirits of the dead have something to do with his misery?

Huston himself was also a hard-drinking man and there is a lot in this film suggesting that the diplomat’s descend into Hell was a painfully familiar one for him. The easiness with which the director frequently lets him humiliate himself and suffer is particularly telling.

Huston shot the film with the great Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, with whom he had previously collaborated on The Night of the Iguana. The unusually playful score was created by award-winning composer Alex North (A Streetcar Named Desire, Spartacus).

Under the Volcano Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, John Huston's Under the Volcano arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Odeon Entertainment.

The release has been sourced from a pre-existing master. As a result some of the wider shots can look softer than they should, but for the most part detail and clarity are rather pleasing (you can see what type of softness to expect in screencapture #5). The majority of the daylight close-ups, in particular, look quite nice (see screencaptures #2 and 9). There are no traces of problematic degraining adjustments. Grain could and should be better exposed and resolved, but what is present on the current master has not been manipulated. Also, sharpening corrections have not been performed. Overall image stability is very good. Lastly, a few tiny flecks pop up here and there, but there are no large distracting cuts, debris, stains, or damage marks to report in our review. All in all, there is clearly room for different improvements, but this is a fine organic presentation of Under the Volcano that makes it rather easy to appreciate the vision of its creator. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray player regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Under the Volcano Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles have not been provided for the main feature.

The audio has not been remastered, but clarity and depth are very good. Alex North's score breathes quite easily, but its harmonic structure is such that the range of nuanced dynamic is rather limited. The dialog is stable and clear, but optional English SDH subtitles should have been included for viewers that need them. There are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in our review.

Under the Volcano Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unfortunately, there are no supplemental features to be found on this Blu-ray release.

Under the Volcano Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A British diplomat in Mexico quits his job and tries to drink himself to death in John Huston's Oscar-nominated drama Under the Volcano. Much like Barbet Schroeder's Barfly, Under the Volcano isn't for everyone, but viewers who appreciate dark and intense films should not miss it. The technical presentation is quite nice, but there are no supplemental features on this release. RECOMMENDED.