Total Eclipse

Total Eclipse follows the tumultuous relationship of French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. Rimbuad is a young, brilliant, vagabond writer who encounters the famous Paul Verlaine. In 1871, Paul Verlaine invites Rimbaud to his home to live with himself and his young wife. Rimbaud's indecent behavior in Verlaine's home as well as in public tears at Verlaine's relationship with his young bride, as well as disrupts the tight knit society of poets. Verlaine finds Rimbaud's carefree outlook on life both refreshing and alluring. As the two men grow closer, and Verlaine grows futher from his pregnant wife, the two, Verlaine and Rimbuad, become lovers caught in a web of absinthe, love, and insanity. The relationship continues off and on as the two men battle their personal demons: Verlaine his love for both his wife, who he abandons for Rimbaud, and his love for the unpredictable Rimbaud. Rimbaud struggles with his need to feel free and complete, and his sometimes fleeting infatuation with Verlaine.

This film is based on the true to life story of famous poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine. While some details of the actul history were slightly warped for the sake of the film, and it seems fairly generic in relation to the actual depth of the poetry in the film, the historical content stays fairly parallel to the actual happenings from 1871 to 1897. The actual backdrop of the film is beautiful, the landscapes in many of the scenes give the it a carefree and nineteenth century feel, without taking from its depth, adding to the rapture of the story itself.

The leading actors in this film, Leonardo DiCaprio and David Thewlis, do a beautiful job capturing the essences of Rimbuad and Verlaine. DiCaprio is a wonderful actor, who is able to bring his own natural eccentricities to the character of Arthur Rimbuad, and he really pulls one into the storyline. Though I found Thewlis to be an awkward choice for the character of Verlaine, he does a very decent job with the role, and the two play off of one another's chemistries really well. There are a relativley small amount of side characters in this film, Veraline's wife Mathilde being the only one with very much of a presence at all.

As far as the nudity and sex scenes go, most of the nudity is fairly brief, though when encountered no bars are held. The sex scene between Verlaine and his wife is slightly more drawn out and graphic than those between Verlaine and Rimbuad, but all are tastefully done, with camera angles that reveal just enough without being intensely graphic.

I give this film it's grade based on the facts that it does tend to sway just slightly from the actual historical events and that too it can seem a bit generic and surface when examining the relationship that these two men shared. On the other hand it is intensely memorable, and I personally couldn't get it out of my head for months after seeing it. Two quotes imparticular stuck with me:

Rimbaud: I found it.
Verlaine: ..What?
Rimbaud: ...Eternity. Where the sun mingled with the sea.

Verlaine: Tell me that you love me, it's vey important.
Rimbaud: You know that I'm very fond of you.