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Total Eclipse

Play trailer Poster for Total Eclipse R,  1995,  1h 50m,  Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 25% 16 Reviews Tomatometer 60% 5,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
25% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 60% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Youthful poet Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis) drinks absinthe and neglects his devoted wife, Mathilde (Romane Bohringer). Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio), an even younger and more celebrated poet, enters their lives and alienates the couple even further, seducing Paul and haughtily mocking their bourgeois lifestyle even as he benefits from it. Mathilde stands by Paul after he is jailed for sodomy, but she cannot prevent the poets' self-destructive descent.

Critics Reviews

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Anthony Puccinelli Chicago Reader Jun 7, 2022
1/4
Ironically the film’s failure as a work of art about artists may be what helps it succeed as a trashy guilty pleasure... Go to Full Review
Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine Jul 31, 2003
2/4
Despite its fascinating subject matter, Total Eclipse is both unflattering and loveless. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Jan 1, 2000
2.5/4
It lacks any sense of humor, and is under the delusion that its subjects are interesting because they are great poets. That only makes their poetry interesting. Go to Full Review
Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault Sep 1, 2022
D
“The unbearable thing,” muses Rimbaud, “is that nothing is unbearable.” Obviously he hadn’t seen this movie. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jan 9, 2007
C
A misguided project from Holland: Watching Verlaine and Rimbeau engage in endless arguments about the nature of love, you wonder when they had time to create the poetry that revolutionized the world. Go to Full Review
Thomas Delapa Boulder Weekly Apr 28, 2005
2/5
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Total Eclipse

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Agnieszka Holland

Director

Leonardo DiCaprio

Arthur Rimbaud

David Thewlis

Paul Verlaine

Romane Bohringer

Mathilde Maute

Dominique Blanc

Isabelle Rimbaud

Félicie Pasotti

Isabelle

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Total Eclipse

Total Eclipse (1995) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Youthful poet Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis) drinks absinthe and neglects his devoted wife, Mathilde (Romane Bohringer). Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio), an even younger and more celebrated poet, enters their lives and alienates the couple even further, seducing Paul and haughtily mocking their bourgeois lifestyle even as he benefits from it. Mathilde stands by Paul after he is jailed for sodomy, but she cannot prevent the poets' self-destructive descent.
Director
Agnieszka Holland
Producer
Ramsay Levi
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Dec 21, 1999
Box Office (Gross USA)
$339.9K
Runtime
1h 50m
Sound Mix
Surround
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