Total Eclipse(film)
Total Eclipse | |
---|---|
Directed by | Agnieszka Holland |
Written by | Christopher Hampton |
Produced by | Jean-Pierre Ramsay-Levi Philip Hinchcliffe Victor GlynnCo-Prod |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Yorgos Arvanitis |
Edited by | Isabelle Lorente |
Music by | Jan A.P. Kaczmarek |
Distributed by | Fine Line Features |
Release date |
|
Running time | 111 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom France Belgium Italy United States |
Language | English |
Budget | €6,780,000[1] |
Box office | $340,139[2] |
Total Eclipseis a 1995erotichistorical dramafilm directed byAgnieszka Holland,[3]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).[4]Warner Bros. has included the film in the catalogue ofWarner Archive Collection.[5]
Plot
[edit]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
[edit]- 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
[edit]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
[edit]Critical response
[edit]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.[6]Metacriticgives the film a weighted average score of 42 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Total Eclipse (1995)".JPBox-Office.Retrieved7 September2013.
- ^"Total Eclipse (1995)".Box Office Mojo.Retrieved7 September2013.
- ^"Total Eclipse".TCM Shop.Archivedfrom the original on 18 November 2019.Retrieved23 July2020.
- ^Ewa Mazierska; Michael Goddard (2014).Polish Cinema in a Transnational Context.Boydell & Brewer. pp. 290–.ISBN978-1-58046-468-0.
- ^"Total Eclipse (1995) (MOD)".WB Shop.Archivedfrom the original on 7 May 2020.Retrieved23 July2020.
- ^"Total Eclipse (1995)".Rotten Tomatoes.Retrieved1 May2024.
- ^"Total Eclipse Reviews".Metacritic.Fandom, Inc.Retrieved25 February2023.
External links
[edit]- 1995 films
- 1990s biographical drama films
- 1995 independent films
- 1995 LGBTQ-related films
- American biographical drama films
- American erotic drama films
- American independent films
- American LGBTQ-related films
- Belgian biographical drama films
- Belgian independent films
- Belgian LGBTQ-related films
- British biographical drama films
- British independent films
- British LGBTQ-related films
- French biographical drama films
- French independent films
- French LGBTQ-related films
- Italian biographical drama films
- Italian independent films
- Italian LGBTQ-related films
- 1990s English-language films
- English-language Belgian films
- English-language French films
- English-language Italian films
- Films about writers
- Male bisexuality in film
- Cultural depictions of Arthur Rimbaud
- Films set in the 1870s
- Films set in the 1890s
- Films shot in Antwerp
- Films directed by Agnieszka Holland
- Films with screenplays by Christopher Hampton
- Films scored by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek
- 1990s erotic drama films
- 1995 drama films
- Biographical films about poets
- LGBTQ-related romantic drama films
- 1990s American films
- 1990s British films
- 1990s French films
- English-language independent films
- English-language biographical drama films
- English-language erotic drama films