Under the Volcano (1984 film): Difference between revisions

Under the Volcano
Under the Volcano
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Huston
Screenplay by	Guy Gallo
Based on	Under the Volcano; 1947 novel; by Malcolm Lowry
Produced by	Moritz Borman; Wieland Schulz-Keil;
Starring	Albert Finney; Jacqueline Bisset; Anthony Andrews;
Cinematography	Gabriel Figueroa
Edited by	Roberto Silvi
Music by	Alex North
Distributed by	Universal Pictures (U.S.); 20th Century Fox (Int.);
Release dates	May 18, 1984 (Cannes); June 12, 1984 (U.S.);
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English; Spanish
Box office	$2,556,800

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Under the Volcano is a 1984 American drama film directed by John Huston and starring Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset, and Anthony Andrews, based on Malcolm Lowry's semi-autobiographical 1947 novel. The film follows the last 24 hours in the life of Geoffrey Firmin (Finney), an alcoholic British former consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac on the Day of the Dead in 1938.

The film premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or. Under the Volcano received Oscar nominations for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Finney's performance and Best Original Score for Alex North’s score, along with Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama (Finney) and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture (Bisset).

Plot

On the Day of the Dead in 1938, Firmin, an alcoholic former British consul to Mexico, despondent from the yearlong absence of his wife Yvonne, wanders the streets of Quauhnahuac in a stupor, observing the festivities and crashing a Red Cross charity ball.

Cast

Albert Finney as Geoffrey Firmin
Jacqueline Bisset as Yvonne Firmin
Anthony Andrews as Hugh Firmin
Ignacio López Tarso as Dr. Vigil
Katy Jurado as Señora Gregoria
James Villiers as Brit
Dawson Bray as Quincey
Carlos Riquelme as Bustamante
José René Ruiz as the Dwarf
Emilio Fernández as Diosdado Brell
Jim McCarthy as Gringo in Brothel
Hugo Stiglitz as Sinarquista
Günter Meisner as Herr Krausberg
Araceli Ladewuen Castelun as Maria
Eleazar Garcia Jr., Salvador Sánchez, and Sergio Calderón as the Chiefs

Production

Development

In the late 1950s, Under the Volcano author Malcolm Lowry adapted his novel into a screenplay and attempted to interest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to produce it^[2] after being hired to adapt F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night.^[3] The studio passed and Lowry died in 1957. Actor Zachary Scott optioned the novel in 1962, but after he died his widow sold the rights to brothers Robert and Raymond Hakim.

Guy Gallo, a novice playwright^[4] who had written two academic papers on Malcolm Lowry at Yale University, began to write a screenplay.^[5]

Casting

Albert Finney was cast in the lead role of Geoffrey Firmin, Jacqueline Bisset as his wife Yvonne, and Anthony Andrews as his half-brother Hugh. Firmin's friend Dr. Vigil was played by Ignacio López Tarso, an actor lesser known to English-speaking audiences but highly recognized by Mexican ones as one of the top stars of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, winning the Ariel Award for Best Actor in 1973 for the Roberto Gavaldón film Rosa Blanca. The supporting cast includes several prominent Mexican filmmaking personalities, including director and occasional actor Emilio Fernández, cult film actor Hugo Stiglitz, and actress Katy Jurado.

Filming

Principal photography began on August 8, 1983, in the village of Yautepec de Zaragoza, a short car ride from Cuernavaca.^[6]

Reception

The film was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d'Or.^[7]

Upon general release, it received generally positive reviews from critics. Reviewing in The New York Times, Janet Maslin especially praised Finney's performance.^[8]

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	Best Actor	Albert Finney	Nominated	^[9]
Academy Awards	Best Original Score	Alex North	Nominated	^[9]
Cannes Film Festival	Palme d'Or	John Huston	Nominated	^[10]
Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama	Albert Finney	Nominated	^[11]
Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture	Jacqueline Bisset	Nominated	^[11]
London Critics Circle Film Awards	Actor of the Year	Albert Finney	Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	Best Actor	Albert Finney	Won^[a]	^[12]
National Board of Review Awards	Top Ten Films		10th Place	^[13]
National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Albert Finney	Runner-up	^[14]
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actor	Albert Finney	Runner-up	^[15]

Related works

Huston's drama has sometimes been shown in tandem with an earlier documentary film: Volcano: An Inquiry Into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry (1976) is a National Film Board of Canada feature-length documentary produced by Donald Brittain and Robert A. Duncan and directed by Brittain and John Kramer. It opens with the inquest into Lowry's "death by misadventure," and then moves back in time to trace the writer's life. Selections from Lowry's novel are read by Richard Burton amid images shot in Mexico, the United States, Canada and England.

There are two documentaries about the making of the Huston film: Gary Conklin's 56-minute Notes from Under the Volcano and the 82-minute Observations Under the Volcano, directed by Christian Blackwood.

Notes

^ Tied with F. Murray Abraham for Amadeus.

References

^ Under the Volcano at Box Office Mojo
^ Strobel, Nancy; Tiessen, Paul (2011). The Letters of Malcolm Lowry and Gerald Noxon, 1940-1952. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-4479-6.
^ Phillips, Gene D. (1986). Fiction, Film, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Chicago, Illinois: Loyola University Press. ISBN 978-0-8294-0500-2.
^ Gold, Herbert (December 11, 1983). "HUSTON FILMS A CULT CLASSIC". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
^ "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
^ Harmetz, Aljean (August 23, 1983). "HUSTON FILMING 'UNDER THE VOLCANO' BESIDE MIST-SHROUDED POPOCATEPETL". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Under the Volcano". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
^ Maslin, Janet (13 June 1984). "Film: Huston's 'Under the Volcano'". The New York Times.
^ "The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
^ "Under the Volcano". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
^ "Under the Volcano". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
^ "The 10th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
^ "1984 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
^ Maslin, Janet (January 3, 1985). "'Stranger Than Paradise' wins award". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
^ "'Passage' Wins Two Big Awards". Observer-Reporter. December 20, 1984. Retrieved December 28, 2017 – via Google News Archive.

External links

Under the Volcano at IMDb
Under the Volcano at the TCM Movie Database
Under the Volcano at AllMovie
Under the Volcano at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Under the Volcano at Rotten Tomatoes
Under the Volcano: Before the Stillness an essay by Christian Viviani at the Criterion Collection

[12] Tied with F. Murray Abraham for Amadeus.

[1] Under the Volcano at Box Office Mojo

[2] Strobel, Nancy; Tiessen, Paul (2011). The Letters of Malcolm Lowry and Gerald Noxon, 1940-1952. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: UBC Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-4479-6.

[3] Phillips, Gene D. (1986). Fiction, Film, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Chicago, Illinois: Loyola University Press. ISBN 978-0-8294-0500-2.

[4] Gold, Herbert (December 11, 1983). "HUSTON FILMS A CULT CLASSIC". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2023.

[5] "AFI|Catalog". catalog.afi.com. Retrieved 2023-07-16.

[6] Harmetz, Aljean (August 23, 1983). "HUSTON FILMING 'UNDER THE VOLCANO' BESIDE MIST-SHROUDED POPOCATEPETL". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 16, 2023.

[festival-cannes.com-7] "Festival de Cannes: Under the Volcano". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 2009-06-23.

[8] Maslin, Janet (13 June 1984). "Film: Huston's 'Under the Volcano'". The New York Times.

[9] "The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2011.

[10] "Under the Volcano". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved May 18, 2024.

[11] "Under the Volcano". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved May 18, 2024.

[13] "The 10th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Retrieved May 18, 2024.

[14] "1984 Award Winners". National Board of Review. Retrieved May 18, 2024.

[15] Maslin, Janet (January 3, 1985). "'Stranger Than Paradise' wins award". The New York Times. Retrieved January 3, 2018.

[16] "'Passage' Wins Two Big Awards". Observer-Reporter. December 20, 1984. Retrieved December 28, 2017 – via Google News Archive.

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[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 The film premiered at the [[1984 Cannes Film Festival]], where it was nominated for the [[Palme d'Or]]. ''Under the Volcano'' received [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor in a Leading Role]] for Finney's performance and [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] for [[Alex North]]’s score, along with [[Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe]] nominations for [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama]] (Finney) and [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]] (Bisset).
-== Plot ==
+==Plot==
 On the [[Day of the Dead]] in 1938, Firmin, an alcoholic former [[British consulate|British consul]] to [[Mexico]], despondent from the yearlong absence of his wife Yvonne, wanders the streets of [[Cuernavaca|Quauhnahuac]] in a stupor, observing the festivities and crashing a [[Red Cross]] charity ball.
@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 {{div col end}}
-== Production ==
+==Production==
+===Development===
-=== Development ===
 In the late 1950s, ''[[Under the Volcano]]'' author [[Malcolm Lowry]] adapted his novel into a screenplay and attempted to interest [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] to produce it<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Strobel |first1=Nancy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fWygdHaw3_QC&dq=Lowry+Fitzgerald+MGM+Volcano&pg=PA151 |title=The Letters of Malcolm Lowry and Gerald Noxon, 1940-1952 |last2=Tiessen |first2=Paul |date=2011 |publisher=UBC Press |location=Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |isbn=978-0-7748-4479-6 |language=en}}</ref> after being hired to adapt [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]]'s ''[[Tender Is the Night]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Gene D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hc5ZAAAAMAAJ&q=Lowry+Fitzgerald+MGM+Volcano |title=Fiction, Film, and F. Scott Fitzgerald |date=1986 |publisher=[[Loyola University Press]] |location=Chicago, Illinois |isbn=978-0-8294-0500-2 |language=en}}</ref> The studio passed and Lowry died in 1957. Actor [[Zachary Scott]] optioned the novel in 1962, but after he died his widow sold the rights to brothers [[Robert and Raymond Hakim]].
 [[File:PopoAmeca2zoom.jpg|left|thumb|[[Popocatépetl]], the titular volcano.]]
@@ Line 54: / Line 53: @@
 Guy Gallo, a novice playwright<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gold |first=Herbert |date=December 11, 1983|title=HUSTON FILMS A CULT CLASSIC |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/11/magazine/huston-films-a-cult-classic.html |access-date=July 16, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> who had written two academic papers on Malcolm Lowry at [[Yale University]], began to write a screenplay.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI{{!}}Catalog |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/57234 |access-date=2023-07-16 |website=catalog.afi.com}}</ref>
-=== Casting ===
+===Casting===
 [[Albert Finney]] was cast in the lead role of Geoffrey Firmin, [[Jacqueline Bisset]] as his wife Yvonne, and [[Anthony Andrews]] as his half-brother Hugh. Firmin's friend Dr. Vigil was played by [[Ignacio López Tarso]], an actor lesser known to English-speaking audiences but highly recognized by Mexican ones as one of the top stars of the [[Golden Age of Mexican cinema]], winning the [[Ariel Award for Best Actor]] in 1973 for the [[Roberto Gavaldón]] film ''[[Rosa Blanca]]''. The supporting cast includes several prominent Mexican filmmaking personalities, including director and occasional actor [[Emilio Fernández]], cult film actor [[Hugo Stiglitz]], and actress [[Katy Jurado]].
-=== Filming ===
+===Filming===
 [[File:Arbol de la glorieta - panoramio.jpg|thumb|right|Yautepec de Zaragoza.]]
 Principal photography began on August 8, 1983, in the village of [[Yautepec de Zaragoza]], a short car ride from [[Cuernavaca]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |date=August 23, 1983|title=HUSTON FILMING 'UNDER THE VOLCANO' BESIDE MIST-SHROUDED POPOCATEPETL |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/23/movies/huston-filming-under-the-volcano-beside-mist-shrouded-popocatepetl.html |access-date=July 16, 2023|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 ==Awards and nominations==
+{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
-The film was enthusiastically received, and was nominated for several awards.
-===Academy Awards===
-* Nominated - [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] ([[Albert Finney]])
-* Nominated - [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]] ([[Alex North]])
-===Golden Globe Awards===
-* Nominated - [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama]] (Albert Finney)
-* Nominated - [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]] ([[Jacqueline Bisset]])
-===Cannes Film Festival===
-* Nominated - [[Palme d'Or]] ([[John Huston]])
-=== Other awards ===
-{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
 |-
+! Award
-!Year
-!Association
 ! Category
-!Nominee
+! Nominee(s)
-!Result
+! Result
+! Ref.
 |-
+| rowspan="2"| [[57th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
-|[[1984 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|1984]]
+| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
-|[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]]
+| [[Albert Finney]]
-|[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
+| {{nom}}
-| rowspan="2" |Albert Finney
+| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1985 |title=The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] |access-date=October 13, 2011 |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402004214/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1985 |url-status=live}}</ref>
-|{{won}}
 |-
+| [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]]
-|[[1984 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|1984]]
+| [[Alex North]]
-|[[New York Film Critics Circle]]
+| {{nom}}
-|[[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
-|{{nom}}
 |-
+| [[1984 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]]
-|[[National Board of Review Awards 1984|1984]]
+| [[Palme d'Or]]
-|[[National Board of Review]]
+| [[John Huston]]
-|[[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films of the Year]]
-|{{N/A}}
+| {{nom}}
+| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/f/under-the-volcano/ |title=Under the Volcano |publisher=[[Cannes Film Festival]] |access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref>
-|{{won}}
 |-
+| rowspan="2"| [[42nd Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
-|1985
+| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama]]
-|[[London Film Critics Circle]]
+| Albert Finney
-|Best Actor
+| {{nom}}
-|Albert Finney
+| align="center" rowspan="2"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldenglobes.com/film/under-the-volcano/ |title=Under the Volcano |publisher=[[Golden Globe Awards]] |access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref>
-|{{won}}
+|-
+| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture]]
+| [[Jacqueline Bisset]]
+| {{nom}}
+|-
+| [[London Film Critics' Circle|London Critics Circle Film Awards]]
+| [[London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year|Actor of the Year]]
+| rowspan="2"| Albert Finney
+| {{won}}
+| align="center"|
+|-
+| [[1984 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards]]
+| [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
+| {{won}}{{efn|Tied with [[F. Murray Abraham]] for ''[[Amadeus (film)|Amadeus]]''.}}
+| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lafca.net/Years/1984.php |title=The 10th Annual Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards |publisher=[[Los Angeles Film Critics Association]] |access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref>
+|-
+| [[National Board of Review Awards 1984|National Board of Review Awards]]
+| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
+| {{draw|10th Place}}
+| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://nationalboardofreview.org/award-years/1984/ |title=1984 Award Winners |publisher=[[National Board of Review]] |access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref>
+|-
+| [[1984 National Society of Film Critics Awards|National Society of Film Critics Awards]]
+| [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
+| rowspan="2"| Albert Finney
+| {{runner-up}}
+| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/03/movies/stranger-than-paradise-wins-award.html |title='Stranger Than Paradise' wins award |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 3, 2018 |date=January 3, 1985}}</ref>
+|-
+| [[1984 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
+| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
+| {{runner-up}}
+| align="center"| <ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Z31iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nncNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1195,3008667 |title='Passage' Wins Two Big Awards |via=Google News Archive |access-date=December 28, 2017 |work=Observer-Reporter |date=December 20, 1984}}</ref>
 |}
@@ Line 120: / Line 136: @@
 ==See also==
 * [[List of American films of 1984]]
+==Notes==
+{{Noteslist}}
 ==References==
-{{reflist}}
+{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==

v t e Films directed by John Huston
Films	The Maltese Falcon (1941) In This Our Life (1942) Across the Pacific (1942) The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) Key Largo (1948) We Were Strangers (1949) The Asphalt Jungle (1950) The Red Badge of Courage (1951) The African Queen (1951) Moulin Rouge (1952) Beat the Devil (1953) Moby Dick (1956) Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958) The Roots of Heaven (1958) The Unforgiven (1960) The Misfits (1961) Freud: The Secret Passion (1962) The List of Adrian Messenger (1963) The Night of the Iguana (1964) The Bible: In the Beginning... (1966) Casino Royale (1967) Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967) Sinful Davey (1969) A Walk with Love and Death (1969) The Kremlin Letter (1970) Fat City (1972) The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) The Mackintosh Man (1973) The Man Who Would Be King (1975) Wise Blood (1979) Phobia (1980) Victory (1981) Annie (1982) Under the Volcano (1984) Prizzi's Honor (1985) The Dead (1987)
Short films	Winning Your Wings (1942) Report from the Aleutians (1943) The Battle of San Pietro (1945) Let There Be Light (1946) Independence (1976)
Related	Five Came Back (2017 documentary)