Total Eclipse (1995)

Director:

Agnieszka Holland

Writer:

Christopher Hampton (writer)

Release Date:

3 November 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Touched by Genius. Cursed by Madness. Blinded by Love.

Plot:

The self-destructive relationship between 19th-century teenage French poet Arthur Rimbaud and his older mentor Paul Verlaine.

Plot Keywords:

Urination | Window | Brother Sister Relationship | Marriage | Surrealism

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Arthur Rimbaud
David Thewlis	...	Paul Verlaine
Romane Bohringer	...	Mathilde Maute
Dominique Blanc	...	Isabelle Rimbaud
Felicie Pasotti Cabarbaye	...	Isabelle, as a child
Nita Klein	...	Rimbaud's Mother
James Thiérrée	...	Frederic
Emmanuelle Oppo	...	Vitalie
Denise Chalem	...	Mrs. Maute De Fleurville
Andrzej Seweryn	...	Mr. Maute De Fleurville
Christopher Thompson	...	Carjat
Bruce Van Barthold	...	Aicard
Christopher Chaplin	...	Charles Cros
Christopher Hampton	...	The Judge
Mathias Jung	...	Andre

Also Known As:

Eclipse totale (France) (DVD title)
Poeti dall'inferno (Italy)
Rimbaud Verlaine (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality and nudity, language, and some startling violence.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

UK | France | Belgium | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:(Banned) | Australia:MA (15+) | Argentina:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:III | Italy:VM18 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium

Company:

Capitol Films

Trivia:

David Thewlis shaved part of his head especially for the film so as to look like the real Verlaine.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Café Andre where the adult Isabelle Rimbaud meets with Paul Verlaine, the typeface on the window is clearly in Helvetica, a typeface that was not created until 1954.

Quotes:

Arthur Rimbaud: Let the 98 wounds of our savior burst and bleed.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Teljes napfogyatkozás (1989) (TV)

A courageous and beautiful film that talks about love and pain.

"Total Eclipses" narrates the romance that is born among the poets Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis, in a courageous and excellent performance, Thewlis plays strong scenes with experience and professionalism) and Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo Di Caprio, before being thrown to the Hollywood's stardom in "Titanic"). The film documents, without make-ups,Paul Verlaine's slow destruction,a man who is consumed by the love and hate that he fells for Rimbauld.Director Agniezka Holland accomplished a touching and beautiful work,counting with a perfect plasticity that reconstitutes the time and the romance among the two men in a detailed way and without shame, what can,in fact,shock Di Caprio's fans in some delicate moments.Even being a little slow in a lot of parts of the story, "Total Eclipse" is efficient when its seen as a drama that lectures about the difficulty of being homosexual, but besides this topic, it analyzes what happens when people abdicate of their happiness and suffer due to social conventions, and finally it ends up in a intelligent conclusion:that only through the courage and through the love it's possible not only to break such barriers but also to achieve redemption.Director Agnieszka Holland conducts with experience a story that, in the hands of another director, could be reduced into a common and not very innovative denominator, and the lenses of her camera shows, without make-ups and courts to alleviate the impact of the scenes, the whole suffering, the prejudice and the pain that marks the relationship between Rimbaud and Verlaine. The two poets' love is realistically developed by Holland, starting by the friendship, in which the two writers begin to know important things about theirselves and discover that they have a lot in common, in terms that both are unhappy with the path their lives acquired, the doubts, the fears and the frustrations,till the beginning of the romance. The scene in which the first kiss happens, when Rimbauld seduces Verlaine and tries to get closer to him and ease his nervousness,is strong,touching and beautiful,this decisive and provocative part is filmed and written in a sweet and human way. The focus that the production gives to the story, therefore,is natural and realistic, what can scare many people away of the box- offices for the context declaredly homosexual of the story."Total Eclipse" explores and studies the relationship without making concessions and without allowing any demagogy or fear. There are rough scenes such as the one in which Thewlis is tirelessly sodomized by Di Caprio, there are moments of fondness when the two kiss each other,but in the same way the sick and morbid aspect of the relationship is expressed, when, for example, Rimbauld stabs Rimbaud's hand to prove his love.Being a heterosexual, i concluded that, instead of adopting a dogmatic and racist posture, it would be better if i could appreciate the film not as just another plot about two gay guys who are in love but I tried to enlarge my point of view, understanding that the film was, actually, a simple feeble love history marked by the suffering and resignation. Thus, I recommend "Total Eclipse" as an intelligent and efficient drama, a work that deserves to be applauded by its initiative and courage, for the excellent performances and for the safe and kind work by Agnieszka Holland, who tells a love story in a distressing and realist form. "Total Eclipses" i rated for strong sexuality and nudity, language, and some startling violence and it runs 111 minutes.The Cast: David Thewlis, Romane Bohringer and Leonardo Di Caprio.