UNDER THE VOLCANO

Red hot plot explodes with whimper

N AN alcoholic haze, ex-British Consul Geof-

frey Firmin (Albert Finney) weaves his way

through the laughing, dancing crowd of grim
reapers, devils and saints which throng the lantern
lit street of Cuernavaca, Mexico.

The year is 1938, Mexico is
celebrating The Day of the
Dead Festival, when souls of
the dead return to the living.
Surrounded by these celebra-
uons of death, with World
War II ready to erupt, the
film Under The Volcano
leads us through the final ex-

plosive days in the life of the
hopeless alcoholic and
former diplomat.

There is no doubt that
Albert Finney delivers a
seething, seering perfor-
mance as Geoffrey Firmin,
allowing his audience to see
the comic and the tragic sides

By COLIN LAMONT

of the ex-Consul's final days.
But what this film is missing
is the insight to what drives
Geoffrey to his pitiful
dependence on the bottle.
Under The Volcano is the
screen adaptation of
Malcolm Lowrey’s epic novel
by the same title. Lowrey
himself went through several
Stages of battling the booze,
and the character of Firmin

is undoubtedly his alter-ego.

‘“*Hell is my natural
habitat,’’ the despairing Fir-
min telis his half brother Hue
(Anthony Andrews) and his
lovely wife Yvonne (Jac-
queline Bisset). But we are
given only vague insights into
Firmin’s hell, too few clues
as to why his wife left him
for one year, why he retired
early from his diplomatic
posting.

Director John Huton has
given us a film that catches

Reaching for the top

From Page C1

style of songs, ballads.
Songs such as The
Troubador and I Want to
Love You (All Over Again)
are more typical of Mullen’s
style. He says his love songs
are motivated by girlfnends,
especially now.

One of Mullen’s greatest
rewards in singing, he says,
1s to watch people’s reac-
tions to his songs. ‘‘Iit’s the
biggest thrill to sit down and
play and sing, and | can tell
people’s reactions by looking
at them. They don’t have to
say anything. But some of
the comments I[ get are, ‘It
says so much,’ or ‘It really
hits home.’ | sang
Troubador to a music class
at SFU and half the tadies
were crying their eyes out.’*>

It wasn't until Mullen
returned frofmfLondon that
he decided to put together
his record. He circulated his
demo tapes, and was met by
several interested companies,

fl

"NEWS photo Terry Peters

CLOSE-UP of Mullen’s fingers on the keyboard show him
hard at work, doing what he knows best.

but with the production of
his record, Mutlen feels he
will be taken more seriously,
and he has been invited to
return to England. Capitol
records and A & M records
in Toronto and Arnsto Re
cords in Los Angeles are
looking over Mullen’s EP to
consider sponsoring him on
4 Tull-sized record.

THE

ANS

PRESENTS

“Making his own
was a big investment, but he
says, ‘“‘It indicates to the
V.I-P.’s of the record
business a serious commit.
ment, they recognize that.”’

Colin Weinmaster of
Ocean Sound = Studios in
Vancouver produced and re
corded Mullen’s record, of
fering him ‘honest

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tive criticism’.

‘It took a long time to
do,’ Mullen says. ‘*Almost
two months, with 10-hour
days. Those people never
take breaks, they never eat. |
thought they were trying to
drill me into the ground. It’s
a whole different world, a
lot of hard work, but very
exciting. 1 saw first hand my
music recorded professional-
ly, and [| saw it come to
life.”’

Mullen is working towards
his business degree at SFU
on a part-time basis, which
he says, ‘‘My music is
becoming a full-tume job,
but | will always combine a
business background.’’

So for now all Mullen can
do is wait to see what the
future will hold for him.
“It's just a matter of time,”’
he says.

Mutflen’s record 15
available at A & B Sound
for those interesied

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the character and flavor of
Mexico during its annual
festival honoring the dead.
The sights and sounds of the
people drinking to the
departed, while the ex-
Consul drinks himself to
death is an appropriate
backdrop to the story.

The theme of Under The
Volcano is certainly death.
Geoffrey’s half brother Hue,
a journalist, has just return-
ed from Franco’s bloody bat-
tles in Spain and is set to
enlist in the forces for World
War If. Yvonne and Geof-
frey are fighting to find the
love that died between them
while hoping to escape from
the struggle that Geoffrey is
having with his drinking.

The film is definitely
worth seeing for the merits of
Finney’s performance, but
while all the characters seem
to be living under the shadow
of the volcano, waiting for it
to erupt, the final explosion
in their lives seems to lack the
fire that the red-hot plot
demands. Under The
Volcano 1s a good film, but it
could have been a great one
with a little more insight.

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Oct 7 OOO
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Under The Volcano is now
playing at the Ridge Theatre
on Arbutus Street.

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