Review of Total Eclipse (1995) by Leia C — 09 Jun 2007

Disappointing, especially since the director made one of my all-time favorite films (Europa Europa). I've found that very few movies can pull off English-language accents in foreign countries, and this movie isn't one of them (while Rimbaud would have had a different accent than Verlaine, coming from the country, he certainly wouldn't have spoken like a damned Cali boy).

I hate dubbing, but maybe I'd like it better if I just saw it in French with subtitles. Poor David Thewlis turns in a good performance while stuck in a mess of a film. To be fair, there are some good moments of aesthetic atmosphere, and there's the much-hyped few seconds of a young DiCaprio's naked ass, but the movie as a whole just doesn't work.