Total Eclipse

by Christopher Hampton

Book Overview

Christopher Hampton DramaCharacters: 10 male, 5 female, plus extras Various Sets Revised version. Total Eclipse is an intelligent look at the relationship between Rimbaud and Verlaine and shows... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0571178731
• ISBN13: 9780571178735
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Simple thoughts.

In my opinion and after reading reviews everybody misunderstood the film and what it really wanted to say.It was not about DiCaprio and his beautiful face,nor about pure art but 2 poets who were nothing but "true messangers".If you remember Rimbaud did not care about sharing his poetry,took it seriously though but just as long as his heart felt it was necessery.This film that I have seen was magnificent.A total love story between 2 people who lived in an era that did not accept same sex relationships,nor desertion and again 2 people who did not care about the rest of the world.Rimbaud was born a genius knowing what he wanted.I loved the way DiCaprio inpersonated him.It took me back right in the 18th.century.Also I consider it an excellent piece of work.Never thought that anyone would complain about it.Especially because we can't ask them how it all happned.:-))))

I've been bit by the Rimbaud and Verlaine bug!!!!

First I saw the movie and practically fell in love with the characters that were portrayed on the screen. And now I've just read this book and I absolutely adore it! It's sad to say but before the movie and this book, I never even heard of these men before! Now I am wanting to learn everything I can about Verlaine and Rimbaud (I'm even going to attempt to read and understand their poetry!) I highly recommend this book to everyone but just watch out! The bug bites hard!! :)

The only thing unbearable is that nothing is unbearable

I was introduced to Arthur Rimbaud, by a fellow student. I had heard of him from the likes of Bob Dylan and Patti Smith but never gave it much thought. This is the screen play for the movie (which I also enjoyed) but it does go into much greater detail then the film. The young Rimbaud is and loud and obnoxious but clearly beyond, at the age of 17, what most poets may hope to accomplish in a life time. I only wish I new why he stop writing at the age of 20. There are clearly unanswered questions here. Still I enjoyed it and went on to read his poetry. He was truely a genuis.

The best book I've read about a poet's life and love.

A young gay poet myself, the story of Arthur Rimbaud helped me a lot of ways. We're all like him: wanting to change the world from one day to the next. Because of this, we try doing things that is impossible than we realize, but sometimes it's in those things that we find our real happiness. Arthur Rimbaud is now somebody I look up to as a role model, and so is Paul Verlaine. No matter how much crisis came their way, they still managed to fight and somehow made the best contributions to the literary world. You might as well read it yourself.

The Screenplay and the Movie

Yes, this is the screenplay of the movie "Total Eclipse", more than that, it is also a more precise portrait of (my favorite) poet Arthur Rimbaud. It's not saying the movie is not good (I like it a lot), but the movie left out some tiny details that is covered in this screenplay. And Since the movie is presented in an abstract way, you will understand the movie much better after you read this book. Furthermore, you can also have a comparison between the screenplay Rimbaud and the Leonardo DiCaprio Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio, or the director, actually added many of artistic interpretation to the role).