Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry is a 1976 documentary film directed by Donald Brittain and John Kramer for the National Film Board of Canada.
Malcolm Lowry, author of one of the major novels of the 20th century, Under the Volcano, was an English writer who spent a significant amount of time living and working in Vancouver. Due, in part, to his chronic alcoholism, his life was tortured and nomadic. Shot on location in four countries, the film combines photographs, readings by Richard Burton, and interviews with the people who loved and hated the man.
Brittain and Kramer tell Lowry's story in two ways: through Lowry’s own tortured words, read by Burton, and through interviews with family members and friends, including Margerie Bonner and Arthur Calder-Marshall, who helplessly watched Lowry’s self-destruction.
Though some have criticized its pedestrian, literal linking of words and images and unrevealing interviews, Volcano is a powerful work that (as one critic wrote) "goes beyond conventional documentary" to reveal "a Picasso-like multi-perspective truth."
Volcano: An Inquiry into the Life and Death of Malcolm Lowry is included as a bonus feature on the Criterion Collection DVD release of Under the Volcano.
Awards
27th Canadian Film Awards, 1976: Best Documentary Best Direction Best Film Editing Best Sound Editing Best Music Score Best Non-Dramatic Script Chicago International Film Festival: Nominee, Best Documentary, 1976 49th Academy Awards: Nominee: Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film, 1977