Total Eclipse(film)

Total Eclipse
Total Eclipseoriginal theatrical poster
Directed by	Agnieszka Holland
Written by	Christopher Hampton
Produced by	Jean-Pierre Ramsay-Levi Philip Hinchcliffe Victor GlynnCo-Prod
Starring	Leonardo DiCaprio David Thewlis Romane Bohringer Dominique Blanc
Cinematography	Yorgos Arvanitis
Edited by	Isabelle Lorente
Music by	Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Distributed by	Fine Line Features
Release date	3 November 1995(1995-11-03)(United States)
Running time	111 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom France Belgium Italy United States
Language	English
Budget	€6,780,000
Box office	$340,139

Total Eclipseis a 1995erotichistorical dramafilm directed byAgnieszka Holland,based on a 1967 play byChristopher Hampton,who also wrote the screenplay. Based on letters and poems, it presents a historically accurate account of the relationship between 19th-century French poetsArthur Rimbaud(Leonardo DiCaprio) andPaul Verlaine(David Thewlis).Warner Bros. has included the film in the catalogue ofWarner Archive Collection.

Plot

The olderPaul VerlainemeetsArthur Rimbaud's sister Isabelle in a café in Paris. Isabelle and her mother want Verlaine to hand over any copies he may still have of Rimbaud's poems so that they can burn them. Verlaine reflects on the relationship he formed with Rimbaud, beginning when the teenaged Rimbaud had sent his poetry to Verlaine from his home in the provinces in 1871. Verlaine impulsively invited him to his rich father-in-law's home in Paris, where he lives with his young, pregnant wife. Rimbaud displays no sense of manners or decency, scandalising Verlaine's pretentious,bourgeoisin-laws.

The 27-year-old Verlaine is seduced by the 16-year-old Rimbaud's physical body as well as by the originality of his mind. The staid respectability of married life and easy, middle-class surroundings had been stifling Verlaine's admittedlysybariticliterary talent. Rimbaud acts assadisticallyto Verlaine as does Verlaine to his young wife, whom he eventually deserts. A violent, itinerant relationship ensues between the two poets, the climax of which arrives inBrusselswhen a drunken and enraged Verlaine shoots Rimbaud and is sentenced a fine and two years in prison forsodomyand grievous bodily harm.

In prison, Verlaine converts to Christianity, to his former lover's disgust. Upon release he meets Rimbaud in Germany, vainly and mistakenly seeking to revive the relationship. The two men part, never to meet again. Bitterly renouncing literature in any form, Rimbaud travels the world alone, finally settling in Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia) to run a "trading post". There he has a mistress. A tumour in his right knee forces him back to France where his leg is amputated. Nevertheless, the cancer spreads and he dies at the age of 37. When he dies, the image of one of his most famous poems,Le Dormeur du val,appears.

During her conversation with Verlaine, Isabelle Rimbaud asserts that her brother had accepted confession from a priest right before he died, showing Christian penitence, which is why only the censored versions of his poetry should survive. Verlaine pretends to agree but tears up her card after she leaves. Later, Verlaine, drinkingabsinthe(to which he has become addicted), sees a vision of the sixteen-year-old Rimbaud. The film ends with the young Rimbaud walking alone on a mountain range, Verlaine proclaiming that they were both happy together, and Rimbaud claiming to have finally found eternity.

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprioasArthur Rimbaud
• David ThewlisasPaul Verlaine
• Romane Bohringeras Mathilde Mauté
• Dominique Blancas Isabelle Rimbaud
• Felicie Pasotti Cabarbaye as Isabelle, as a child
• Nita Klein as Rimbaud's Mother
• James Thiérréeas Frédéric
• Emmanuelle Oppo as Vitalie
• Denise Chalem as Mrs. Mauté de Fleurville
• Andrzej Sewerynas Mr. Mauté de Fleurville
• Christopher Thompsonas Carjat
• Bruce Van Barthold as Aicard
• Christopher Chaplinas Charles Cros
• Christopher Hamptonas The Judge
• Mathias Jungas André
• Aza Declercq as prostitute

Home media

In 1999, aDVDedition of the film was released. It features both a widescreen and fullscreen version of the film on the same disc as well as the film trailer.

Reception

Critical response

Total Eclipsehas an approval rating of 22% onreview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,based on 18 reviews, and an average rating of 4.5/10, against a 60% score with audiences.Metacriticgives the film a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

See also

• A Season in Hell(1971)
• 1995 in film
• List of British films of 1995

External links

• Total EclipseatIMDb
• Total EclipseatRotten Tomatoes