Total Eclipse

Rating:
Summary: Pseudo Art
Review: Goodness! The way people were speaking about this film, I thought it would be one of those deep, dark, poetic, pathbreaking epics that you come across once in a lifetime. Sadly, it isn't even a half-way decent film, with disappointing performances from both DiCaprio and Thewlis. The direction is shoddy, and the 'dark' sides of the leads aren't very well explored. At times, the pace is lethargic, and even DiCaprio's stunning beauty isn't enough to lift this movie out of its depression.

No doubt the director has approached the subject with a lot of heart. Indeed, the doomed love affair between Verlaine and Rimabaud is intriguing even in this day and age. It must be said that for a film of this sort to work, the chemistry between the lead actors is vital. On this level, thankfully, the film is an absolute success. Few same-sex couples on screen have exhibited the chemistry that Leo and David seem to share. Every scene between them sparkles with electricity, and their falling in love is authentically captured.

This however, is not at all sufficient for 'Total Eclipse' to work. Theres something amiss, and its difficult to say exactly what. Perhaps its the weak script and the misplaced soundtrack. Personally, I found that the director's attempts to age DiCaprio thoroughly hilarious. In these scenes, Caprio (who was 20 at the time) looks like a schoolboy playing Lincoln, and the fake moustache is just too much. Leo is one of those actors who seem destined to remain boyish-looking (like Michael J Fox), and these scenes serve to reiterate that belief.

The film tries to stick to history and facts, but there are sequences that do make you wonder. That apart, the most powerful thing about this movie is the fascinating on-screen chemistry between DiCaprio and Thewlis, though individually, their performances are bland and lacklustre. Its also the film where DiCaprio is at his beautiful best, his almost androgynous frailty is totally bewitching. The sex scenes between the duo make for some compelling viewing. There are two prime love scenes here - the first features the couple's first kiss, and Leonardo DiCaprio's only onscreen gay smooch. It also features footage of Leo completely nude, thats found its way to numerous sites on the Web. However, far from being 'erotic' these scenes are handled with such sensitivity, seldom seen in other films of the genre. The other love scene is already rather notorious among Leo fans, featuring DiCaprio making love, and I really mean making love, to David Thewlis. This scene is mesmerising in its brutality, as Leo plays a top to David Thewlis' passive bottom. Its also compelling to watch how Leo is thoroughly convincing as a gay guy enjoying gay sex - many straight actors engaging in this sort of loveplay on screen have appeared stilted, but this man is incomparable. If theres any reason why you should buy 'Total Eclipse', this is it. Gay fans will note that this is the only recorded instance of Leo engaging in explicit sex, though newer releases of the film see a trimmed down version of the scene.

However, Leo's portrayal of a disturbed poet is unconvincing. His limitations as an actor have been exposed in later films such as 'The Beach', but over here, he appears to be lost. Theres also too much blood and sado-masochism going on, and Leo lacks the experience or talent to pull these sequences off, though Thewlis manages this better. And while the couple look totally in love and besotted with each other, they aren't able to translate this attraction into equally impressive performances.

On the whole, the director has tried to handle a sensitive subject with grace, and believe me, she does succeed. But as a film in its entirety, 'Total Eclipse' falters. This could have been a remarkable movie had the director put Leo and David's superb coupling to good use, but she doesnt. Rather, she resorts to some weak one-liners, pensive close-ups and bits of hot sensuality to retain the viewers interest. For all that, I must confess, that despite its weaknesses (and there are so many!) I have found myself watching this film time and again - is that a sign of a film being good? I suppose different viewers have had different reactions to this film. To me, this is a film with great heart, but with far too many holes to rave about. If you haven't seen it, then do so! For all its flaws, 'Total Eclipse' is essential viewing. Recommended for audiences with an interest in deviant French history.

Rating:
Summary: Totally tedious
Review: DiCaprio and poetry don't mix. Although intending to portray one of the world's most intense homoerotic relationships (and with a few glimpses of frontal nudity), it all adds up to they-make-up-they-break-up-they-make-up-they break-up ad nauseum. With endless talk, and a good deal of virulent misogyny. You end up sympathizing only with Verlaine's long-suffering wife. For the two lead characters are completely insufferable. Quite a disappointment from the director who brought us "Europa, Europa" and "The Secret Garden".

Rating:
Summary: Leo Stinks
Review: This movie was Fair. I dont understand why if Leo's character was supposed to be french then why didnt they have him speak in a accent. The rest of the characters did. I dont understand why people and critics praise Leo has being a great actor. Hes just fair. Not terffic. Im very upset that one of the movie magazines qouted "was he robed of an Oscar" for Titanic. Please he wasnt that brillant of an actor. Please dont watch this movies becuase of Leo. The movie could have found better actor for the part. Titanic should have found a better on too.

Rating:
Summary: Total Winner
Review: This is the kind of movie that will make you think. To the conservative it will seem obscene and to the slow minded it will be to much to bear. Both DiCaprio and Thewlis became these two characters and seem to show the audience just how far genius and insanity can take you. The setting and dialogue is perfect and remains true to Rimbaud's poetry. It's quite interesting to understand the two poet's perceptions of love. If you appreciate art and have an open mind then this is the movie for you.

Rating:
Summary: The most sensual DiCaprio
Review: Leonardo once more surprises me with this beautiful and perfectly made movie. Highly recommended for good cinema lovers.

Rating:
Summary: Total Eclipse of Quality
Review: This movie is just plain terrible. All the potential - the story, the poetry, the actors, the director - is entirely wasted. DiCaprio, while admirable in accepting such a role, is all but unwatchable, in that his acting is too self-cetered (there is little or no connection to the other actors) and his character comes off at the beginning as a rude, snotty brat and goes downhill from there. Thewlis tries to play symapthetic as Verlaine, but is betrayed by the poor writing. Romane Bohringer, easily the sole redeeming feature of the film, is in a role too small and unimportant to make enough of a difference. Worse, while the cinematography is at times compelling, the direction shows Holland at a career low. There is no chemistry, no intimacy among the characters, no matter how naked they get. The fire, the spark fueling Rimbaud's poetry, is smothered by the deadweight of the badly-written script. There is no reason to believe these two guys care about each other, and no reason to believe we should care about them, either.

Rating:
Summary: DETESTABLE, LONG, AND DULL
Review: Breathtaking? Exhilarating? What other lies are posted on this page about this horrible, horrible film?

Over two hours of sheer torture. The characters are odious, one keeps rooting for either of them to die and thus end the film promptly. (alas, my brother insisted on sitting through this thus making me a captive audience).

The self-absorbtion, greed, sadistic tendencies, abusiveness, and general cruelty of both Verlaine and Rimbaud culminate in a tedious, vile, and overly lengthy waste of celluloid. Depressing, badly made, in places embarassingly acted, a meandering tale that leaves one hating humanity...skip it & be glad you did.

Aside...love the 'stach on Leo when he's allegedly older. Must have been the Big Top Special at the makeup outlet.

Rating:
Summary: Totally eclipsed
Review: Fascinating story, intelligent dialogue, superb sound track, stellar performance by David Thewlis as Verlaine matched by an authoritative performance by DiCaprio as Rimbaud, wonderful settings and photography, a riveting film! Though I realize that this is not a docudrama, I would have liked some more emphasis on the philosophical differences in the work of the two poets, which was nearly totally eclipsed by the intense portrayal of their passionate relationship. Nevertheless, a marvelous movie and Mr. Malten should stick to Rambo since Rimbaud is obviously too complex for him.

Rating:
Summary: Not Good
Review: This film educated me about Rimbaud's life, which I was glad to learn about, but DiCaprio, who can act brilliantly, doesn't act well here. (He's playing a Frenchman, but speaks in an American accent: a mistake). For the prurient among you, the opportunity to see Leo's bare rear (and even his shadowed package) and to see him French kiss another man, might be reason enough to see it. But, really, this movie is rather a stinker.

Rating:
Summary: Total Eclipse
Review: My original captivation with this film has been tempered now that I've seen it a second time. But what I originally enjoyed and also originally disliked the first time around were both confirmed when I saw it again: My initial delight was due to the fact that the portrayal of Arthur Rimbaud is as close to capturing the inner workings of the mind of an artist as any I've seen, particularly in the way that he demonstrates a very logical resistance to Paul Verlaine's amorphously fawning "love" that he offers Rimbaud. "Love doesn't exist," Rimbaud boldly proclaims. "Self-interest exists. Attachment based on personal gain exists. Complacency exists. But not love. It has to be re-invented." And reinvented it is in this portrayal of two male artists whose relationship originates out of a sort of intellectual centrifugal force. Each of them recognize the monumental talent in the other and even though they pursue the bond they share to the inevitable sexual conclusion, the word "homosexual" never really occurred to me while I was watching the film, primarily because their relationship demonstrates their symbiotic need for each other intellectually first and foremost, quite separate from their sexual needs, which never stoops to the sophomoric level of "which one is the man? which one is the woman?" designation of gender roles. One must remember, and the film explicitly points out, that although this tale is only a hundred years old, the punishment for being homosexual back then was enough to send you to prison for two years.

Even though I've seen this film twice in ten days, something still needles me about the casting of DiCaprio as Rimbaud. This is the first film I've seen DiCaprio in, and I'm really starting to like him, and David Thewlis, as Verlaine, I've been raving about since his blistering performance in Mike Leigh's Naked two years ago. Perhaps it's simply my expectations. Since these two giants of poetry are strictly the stuff of history now, one can't tell how on the money their characterizations are, and they ARE able to illustrate the spirits they each had remarkably. DiCaprio's performance as Rimbaud is exact in his reading of a self-appointed genius who very convincingly illustrates the alchemical origin for any true artist: that of having a scorched earth policy, of reinventing the world on one's own terms and of realizing one needs to have the strongest of convictions about one's self and one's abilities to "originate the future" regardless of what even other artists feel about you. "Poets should learn from each other," Verlaine admonishes Rimbaud when they first meet. "Only if they're bad poets," Rimbaud shoots back. And in that refutation of what an artist "should be" is the key to why Verlaine ends up obliviously destroying not only the bourgeois life he's tried carefully to fit into to, but also the lives of those around him: By clinging to Rimbaud as a moth to light, Verlaine begins to feel an acute amount of nostalgia for his own beginnings as a major poet and desperately tries to recapture that contagious spirit of capriciousness which blooms when one's hormones are exploding and you feel invincible that Rimbaud represents to Verlaine. Verlaine, ten years older than Rimbaud, met him at a time when his fear of death had prompted him to marry a girl (six years his junior who was nowhere near his intellectual level) so he could father a child, who did turn out to be a son. Romane Bohringer, as Verlaine's long-suffering wife Mathilde, is a great casting choice because although she may not have been on the same intellectual level as her husband, she was a perfectly fine person in her own right: healthy, joyous, buxom, devoted, willing to take Verlaine back countless times. Therefore, her faith in her husband underlines just how much it was Verlaine's choice and his choice alone to decide whether he should go gallivanting around Europe with Rimbaud, or stay with his wife and help father their child. Rimbaud even tries to convince Verlaine to do the right thing and stay with his family at one point. Rimbaud's motivations seem to flutter between his desire for an intellectual equal and his need for monetary support, which, of course means Verlaine's wife because it was HE who married money, not her.

My reservations about this film are primarily because it doesn't deal with the actual poetry of the men enough. I would have loved to have heard the voice-overs of them both during the scenes where they cavort among the goats on a hillside, or as they climb around the crags of the Black Forest, and when Rimbaud mentions to Verlaine that "the writing has changed me" it would have done more of a service to the audience to let them know WHY he was having his sister burn his earlier poems.

The photography, as I've come to expect from director Agnieszka Holland (The Secret Garden; Olivier, Olivier; Europa, Europa) is stunning, particularly the shots of Charleville, where Rimbaud's family lives on a farm. Holland loves blood, but not as though you'd know it: the few instances where you see blood in this film it's used strictly as punctuation for the symmetrical balance of their cruelty for each other, or else it's photographed just to show what the concept of flow mechanics can do to red on white.

I'm glad the film chose to not end with the severing of their relationship, but to follow Rimbaud to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) and to the end of his life, to fully illustrate that his was a spirit who was forever seeking the outer edges of experience. He lived more in his 37 years on this planet than most people do in thrice that amount and history and posterity has shown time and again that not only were his instincts correct, but they continue to be felt a hundred years later.

SIDEBAR

From director Agnieszka Holland (The Secret Garden; Olivier, Olivier; Europa, Europa) and writer Christopher Hampton (Carrington, Dangerous Liaisons) comes Total Eclipse, the true story of the great 19thth century French poets, Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. David Thewlis (winner of the Best Actor Award from both the Cannes Film Festival and New York Film Critics Circle for his astounding performance in Mike Leigh's Naked) stars as Verlaine, a volatile alcoholic torn between his lovely yet conventional wife and the seductive, dangerous and brilliant Rimbaud. Oscar nominee Leonardo DiCaprio (the talented star of What's Eating Gilbert Grape and The Basketball Diaries) portrays the wild, young Rimbaud, a poet whose life and work was fueled by an insatiable hunger for intense experience, unbounded by rules or consequences. Rimbaud's was a revolutionary vision that has inspired rebel artists ever since, from Jack Kerouac to Jim Morrison. Romane Bohringer (the Cesar winning actress of Savage Nights and The Accompanist) plays Verlaine's loving wife Mathilde, who finds her husband magnetized by the intoxicating lure of Rimbaud.

Ultimately, as described by director Agnieszka Holland, Total Eclipse is a story about love. Verlaine is drawn to Rimbaud because he finds him totally, powerfully exceptional. And in Verlaine, Rimbaud thinks he has found the companion to share his search of the absolute.

Audacious, demanding and provocative, Total Eclipse is the story of a volatile romantic triangle and the lives it consumes. Like Amadeus, it illustrates the easy cruelty of young genius and the constantly warring creative and destructive forces that exist within the artist.

Although the film is set in the 1870's, it is profoundly contemporary, partly because of the diverse personalities of the cast and its universal depiction of romantic and creative obsession. Says Holland, "Poets than were not the insignificant civil servants of literature that they are today. They reinvented their existence moment by moment, using their creativity. Verlaine and Rimbaud were in fact very different but both thought they could find everything, try everything, with no limits or boundaries."

Screenwriter Christopher Hampton, a Rimbaud scholar at Oxford who adapted Total Eclipse from one of his earliest plays, found the story to be a "means of posing a number of questions around a central puzzle, namely, what does it mean to be a writer? What could one reasonably hope to achieve? What were the pleasures and torments and what, if any, the responsibilities? Might one change the world, or would it prove beyond one's abilities even to change oneself?"

For both David Thewlis and Leonardo DiCaprio, the film was a risky, daring choice. Comments DiCaprio, "The role of Rimbaud is one of the most important of my career and one of the best roles to play for a young actor. Rimbaud wanted to change the world from one day to the next. He was someone courageous, who didn't worry about the consequences of his actions. I live my life thinking of the consequences. Shooting this film, I learned not to worry about what the others thought of what I was doing. It wasn't easy, but it changed me."

David Thewlis, who shot to prominence playing another difficult, tro