Synopsis
Feature documentary on writer Malcolm Lowry. In the grip of his demons, nightmares and fantasies, obsessed by the suicide of one of his friends, Lowry lived a long alcoholic agony. This did not prevent him from delivering to the world pages that place him among the greatest writers of the 20th century. People who knew him well tell of the underworld journey of this man, whose soul was wandering, whose body was embarrassment and whose work was genius.
A word from Tënk
The film begins by evoking the conditions of Lowry's death. "I really don't see how Malcolm could have left us any other way than he did. He apparently choked on his own vomit. And in my opinion, that's perfectly consistent with the way Malcolm lived." The tone is set!
Between humor and horror, this portrait of the doomed novelist, author of a cult work, Under the Volcano, which continues to thrill generations of teenagers initiated into alcoholic delirium, gives voice to a series of characters who rubbed shoulders with him.
We delve into the founding events of his strange destiny. We come across a syphilis museum, the memory of a friend's suicide, constipation problems and the uptightness of the English bourgeoisie of the 20s… With inventiveness, humor and derision, the filmmakers paint an inspired portrait of a being with an erratic, Faustian path, who made it his mission to give an account of the allure of… inner hell. Here, all reality becomes myth, and alcohol and literature turn the world upside down.
Naomie Décarie-Daigneault
Tënk's Artistic Director
