Rimbaud Verlaine

An acting class by Di Caprio and Thewlis. Di Caprio is magnificent as a homosexual poet who emotionally abuses his partner, and so inherently disgusting that even a fan who has seen Titanic 40 times would slap him. (11/05/2003)

Excellent work. If only because Leonardo DiCaprio, peeled to the bone from his star manners, puts on a fantastic performance. But also because it is a powerful story, where the grateful subject of homosexuality does not serve as a shocking exclamation point, but only as one of the motives in the riveting story of two great poetic personalities. Despite the depth and fullness of the fabric, Total Eclipse does not lose clarity, persuasiveness, or naturalness. An excellent film that may not widely open the poetry of Verlain and Rimbaud in any way, but still says something about it... yet it is above all a riveting drama of two human destinies. It's just a shame about the final sequences, the densification of which I can't come to enjoy... (21/05/2004)