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Total Eclipse Credits Country of Origin: France Release Date: 1995 Production Line: Jean Paul Ramsey Levi; presented by Fit-Portman-SFP Cinema-K2, Capitol Films, European Coproduction Fund, Canal Plus and Le Studio Canal Plus; released by Fine Line Director: Agnieszka Holland Cinematographer: Yorgos Arvanitis File Editor: Isabel Lorente Additional Credits: Production design - Dan Weil Art direction - Nathalie Buck Set decoration - Francoise Benoit-Fresco Costume design - Pierre-Yves Gayraud Sound - Michel Boulen - Laurent Quaglio and Francoise Groult Casting - Margot Capelier MPAA Rating: R Run Time: 110 minutes Cast: Arthur Rimbaud - Leonardo DiCaprio Paul Verlaine - David Thewlis Isabelle Rimbaud - Domonique Blanc Mathilde Verlaine - Romane Bohringer Named persons in Production Credits: Jean Paul Ramsey Levi Studios named in Production Credits: Fit-Portman-SFP Cinema-K2 Capitol Films European Coproduction Fund Canal Plus Le Studio Canal Plus Fine Line Screenplay (Author): Christopher Hampton

This is a stunningly emotional movie! I have to admit, that after reading the reviews, I was a little hesitant about the experience, because the American critical reviews on the whole were very bad and I was afraid I wouldn't be impressed with Mr. DiCaprio's performance....and I didn't want to spoil my image of the brilliance of his other work. But I was mesmerized by the performances! DiCaprio's portrayal of this long ago recognized genius is so stunning that he actually shines on screen. There isn't another character that he has portrayed that has as much inner spirit and passion as Rimbaud, and in so many ways...Rimbaud's passion matches that of the actor himself! Here is a quote from Leonardo's Dad...regarding this movie.."I think he's like a medium, not like a character. He opens his body and his mind to receive messages that come from another person's life. I think maybe Rimbaud was a medium, visited by extraterrestrials and Leo also has this capacity!" When speaking about this movie today, DiCaprio states, "The only people who really like Total Eclipse were people who liked Rimbaud. I don't know what to say about it. In the United States, people don't really know who he is. I think maybe the film didn't explain enough.." The domestic release of the film was a disappointment, only making $350,000, but was better received in other countries, especially France, where Rimbaud is regarded as the founder of modern French poetry. This is a movie that the American critics did not like...it was DiCaprio's first taste of bad reviews in his young film career. He took a huge chance...he decided the character was too challenging to pass up, but he knew it was a big risk......the character was unknown to the American public, and the fact that the film failed to provide any background information as to what made Rimbaud so tormented, and so powerfully driven to experience every aspect of life, contributed to both its failure at the box office and in the critical reviews. But that is not to say it wasn't loved by some critics, as witnessed by this following review...thanks Lou, and Annabelle. 'Because it was him......Because it was me....' We all have in mind these famous Paul Verlaine words, in which he explained, with the biggest simplicity, his tremendous passion for Rimbaud. When she decided to make this film, which was first a Volker Schloendorff project, the Polish director Agnieszka Holland has not been afraid to cross swords with two of the most symbolic ghosts of the 19th century French literature. It's exactly by forgetting how famous their names are and what they still represent in the eyes of the world, that the Olivier-Olivier's director succeeds in letting us enter the recess of this mysterious love that binded these two men in the depths of their flesh. Very quickly, we forget their names and we take more and more interest in their heartbeats, in the devastating effects they spread around them. They're not just two poets who are chasing eachother but rather two men who try, through their relationship, to satisfy their search of the absolute. Of course, Agnieszka Holland doesn't avoid some cliches and her directing suffers from a lack of delicacy and refinement. But this time, she is outshined by the unfailing performances of Leonardo DiCaprio and David Thewlis (without forgetting Romane Bohringer, wonderful in Verlaine's wife) who throw themselves wholeheartedly into their roles, giving a very deeply moving intensity to their characters. Thanks to them, the film suddently takes another direction, and it's not impossible that, for those who will see this film. the names of Rimbaud and Verlaine will forever have the faces of these two brilliant actors. Director A. Holland: 'Leo is like a medium. He somehow opens himself up and receives the other person's soul and mind.' Leonardo has openly spoken of how playing Rimbaud changed his life. He admired the young poet's genius, his freedom of expression, and his freedom of spirit. Rimbaud lived his life for himself, trying to experience everything, and cared nothing for what the world thought of him and his poetry. He felt that to experience life, to take on challenges despite the risks was to improve his life and his 'gift'. Once he felt that life was no longer worth experiencing, he stopped writing...at the age of 19. In a reply to Verlaine, who asked him why he had stopped writing, and that he had a 'gift' that he must share with the world, he replied, "It's my gift.....I'll do what I want with it!" (Thanks to Peanut) Throughout the film we hear Rimbaud talk of his longing to travel to Africa -we see '2' dream sequences involving African deserts, and Rimbaud uttering "on-on". Those who studied Rimbaud believe that Rimbaud's 'longing' for Africa was really symbolic of his 'longing' for his beloved father who abandoned the family and moved to Africa where he served in the military. After Rimbaud gave up writing at the tender age of 19, he traveled extensively eventually settling in Africa - during this time he took a job as a gun runner until health problems necessitated his return home- where he died at the age of 32. Scholars have long debated about Rimbaud's sexuality - some of the different theories are: One, he was bisexual thus explaining his relationships with both men/women. Two, his relationships with men - all involved much 'older' men and were actually attempts to find a 'substitute' father. Three, his relationships with men were just part of his desire to 'experience' it all Four, it was part of his ultimate rebellion against his Catholic mother - she rejected him 'emotionally' and he repaid her with a supreme rejection of her Catholic beliefs. If you remember the scene at the end with his sister & Verlaine -she wishes certain aspects of Rimbaud's life not to be known so that he may be 'forgiven' by the church. Yes, Rimbaud could be cruel - the scene involving Rimbaud and Verlaine's wife illustrated how he too cruelly played them against each other - There has been much said by the American critics about the authenticity of the the intimacy between these two men as portrayed in the movie. The following letter written to Verlaine after he left Rimbaud to return to his wife, as portrayed in the movie, is authentic.... To Verlaine London, Friday afternoon, 4 July 1873 Come back, come back, dear friend, my only friend, come back.... I swear I shall be kind. If I was cross with you, it was a joke which I was obstinately determinded to carry on; I repent of it more than can be said. Come back, it will be quite forgotten. how terrible that you should have taken that joke seriously. For two days I have not stopped crying. Come back. Be brave, dear friend. Nothing is lost. All you have to do is make another journey. We'll live here again, very bravely and patiently. Oh! I beg you! Besides, it's for your own good. Come back, you'll find all your things here. I hope you realize now that there was nothing real in our argument. That frightful moment! But you - when I signalled to you to get off the boat - why didn't you come? Have we lived together for two years to come to this? What are you going to do? If you won't come here, would you like me to come and meet you where you are? Yes, I was in the wrong. Oh! You won't forget me, will you? No, you can't forget me. As for me, I still have you, here. Listen, answer your friend, must we not live together anymore? Be brave. Answer this quickly. I can't stay here much longer. Do not read this except with goodwill. Quick, tell me if I must come to you. Yours, all my life. Rimbaud

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