Total Eclipse (1995)
The erotic historical drama film Total Eclipse (1995), directed by Agnieszka Holland, is based on Christopher Hampton’s 1967 play. In a Paris café, Paul Verlaine meets Isabelle, the sister of Arthur Rimbaud. Isabelle and her mother ask Verlaine to give them any remaining copies of Rimbaud’s poems so they can burn them. Verlaine reflects on his relationship with Rimbaud, which began when the young poet sent his work to Verlaine from his home in the provinces in 1871. Impulsively, Verlaine invited him to his wealthy father-in-law’s home in Paris where he lives with his pregnant wife. However, Rimbaud shows no manners or decency and shocks Verlaine’s snobbish and bourgeois in-laws.
The conventional lifestyle of marriage and comfortable middle class living stifled Verlaine’s indulgent literary talent. Rimbaud was as cruel to Verlaine as he was to his young wife, whom he eventually left. This resulted in a tumultuous relationship between the two poets, which reached its peak in Brussels when an intoxicated Verlaine shot Rimbaud. For this crime, he received a fine and two years in prison for both sodomy and physical harm. In jail, Verlaine turns to Christianity, much to the disgust of his former lover. After being released, he tries to reconnect with Rimbaud in Germany, but is unsuccessful. They part ways and never cross paths again.
Date of download: 2015-11-11T17:22:34+00:00
Cast:  Leonardo DiCaprioArthur Rimbaud  David ThewlisPaul Verlaine  Romane BohringerMathilde Maute  Dominique BlancIsabelle Rimbaud  James ThierréeFrédéric |
The erotic historical drama film Total Eclipse (1995), directed by Agnieszka Holland, is based on Christopher Hampton’s 1967 play. In a Paris café, Paul Verlaine meets Isabelle, the sister of Arthur Rimbaud. Isabelle and her mother ask Verlaine to give them any remaining copies of Rimbaud’s poems so they can burn them. Verlaine reflects on his relationship with Rimbaud, which began when the young poet sent his work to Verlaine from his home in the provinces in 1871. Impulsively, Verlaine invited him to his wealthy father-in-law’s home in Paris where he lives with his pregnant wife. However, Rimbaud shows no manners or decency and shocks Verlaine’s snobbish and bourgeois in-laws.
The conventional lifestyle of marriage and comfortable middle class living stifled Verlaine’s indulgent literary talent. Rimbaud was as cruel to Verlaine as he was to his young wife, whom he eventually left. This resulted in a tumultuous relationship between the two poets, which reached its peak in Brussels when an intoxicated Verlaine shot Rimbaud. For this crime, he received a fine and two years in prison for both sodomy and physical harm. In jail, Verlaine turns to Christianity, much to the disgust of his former lover. After being released, he tries to reconnect with Rimbaud in Germany, but is unsuccessful. They part ways and never cross paths again.
