Total Eclipse
Fine Line Features | Release Date: November 3, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
6
Negative:
6

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Despite its flaws, Total Eclipse is the kind of movie that stirs thoughts and ruminations about the nature of genius, the true meaning of art, and the unfailing capacity of great people to destroy themselves and others. Holland has not matched the success of two of her previous films -- Europa Europa and Olivier Olivier -- but this picture is still a respectable examination of a fascinating historical relationship. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Total Eclipse is a biographical film steeped in ecstasy and despair, seething with madness and torment. Read full review
70
Washington PostHal Hinson
DiCaprio is daring and unguarded in his performance as Rimbaud, and Thewlis does an astounding job of showing the despair of an artist whose time has passed. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The story excels in its portrait of obsessive love and desire. Where the tale falls down is in its portrait of two comrades in poetry, the writers who inspired each other to new levels of artistry and dwelled with the muses wherever they cohabited. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The poems can be read. The film must stand on its own, apart from the poems, and I'm afraid it doesn't. One admires the energy and inventiveness that Holland, Thewlis and DiCaprio put into the film, but one would prefer to be admiring it from afar. Read full review
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