Under the Volcano (1984) on Netflix
British consul Geoffrey Firmin drinks through the Day of the Dead in a Mexican town. His wife Yvonne returns after a year away to repair their marriage; his half-brother Hugh is there.
- Netflix3.1/5
- IMDb6.8/106,916 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes74%
Trailer
Plot summary
On the Day of the Dead in 1938, in the town of Quauhnahuac beneath the volcano Popocatépetl, Geoffrey Firmin, a British consul, has quit his post and drinks his way through the festivities, sunk by a year without his wife Yvonne. He wanders the streets, looks in on a Red Cross charity ball and hunts for letters she sent him. Yvonne arrives in the morning to attempt a reconciliation, and Geoffrey's half-brother Hugh, a journalist recently returned from the Spanish Civil War, joins them. Both are alarmed by how far his drinking has gone, to where he needs alcohol to hold off delirium tremens. The three plan a bus trip to the volcano above the town.
Cast
- Dawson Brayas Quincey
- Jim McCarthyas Gringo
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Under the Volcano (1984)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Malcolm Lowry adapted his own novel into a screenplay in the late 1950s and attempted to interest Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in producing it; the studio passed and Lowry died in 1957. The rights later reached brothers Robert and Raymond Hakim, who were sued by the Lowry estate for withholding creative consultation.
- The only purpose-built set for the film was the 'El Farolito' brothel, constructed on the outskirts of Metepec because the real location was too dilapidated; principal photography took place in Yautepec de Zaragoza, selected for its 18th-century architecture.
