I'll tell you why so serious

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I knew very little about Rimbaud and Verlaine. I looked them up cursorily after hearing a reference to them in a Bob Dylan song. So I knew then that they were homosexual French poets. I think that Dylan's mention had more to do with tempestuousness in relationships than gayness. This film had nice production values, good photography, pretty good acting performances, nice period costumes, etc. I was unfamiliar with the cast, aside from DiCaprio. The film seemed to focus on Verlaine's and Rimabaud's outrageous and unacceptable behavior. I wonder if it could have been better if there had been more exposure to the poetry, because one gets little sense of their talent. Perhaps it doesn't translate well into English. But the huge turnoff was the gay kissing and sex scenes. Way too icky for a normal person.

A film that fails to live up to the provocative brazen confidence of the lives it depicts. DiCaprio manages to capture the arrogance of Rimbaud, but he has no opportunity to slide his youthful body into the intensity of Rimbaud's raw genius. Instead the filmmakers fetishise DiCaprio's body and his precocious pretense. They filmmakers suggest that Rimbaud has no care for love, sex or violence, taking them or leaving them with little thought, but they shy away from any sensuality or depth in their depiction of these perversely human tendencies. 150 years after the events they are depicting, the filmmakers, scandalised as they are with the bent of their material, are somewhat embarrassed about diving into the implications either visually or emotionally. Nothing is explained, the legend is barely depicted. This film is no excuse for other filmmakers to not deal with the material themselves.

Many people who have seen this movie do not understand it at all. It has nothing to do with the sexual nature of the two men. It is how their lives intertwine and how they fall in love with each other's souls through their amazing writings. The sex comes naturally as two human beings - not two gay men or bisexuals.If all you got out of this movie is that, I am so sad for you! I am shocked this film hasn't made it to the top. I love it. I watch it all the time. My favorite European film of ALL TIME. The acting as well, excellent!!!!!I truly get lost in this film. You can't help but fall in love with the writing itself. Extremely well-written as well as acted out.

Total Eclipse really is the best film I have ever seen. Leonardo DiCaprio is brilliant, 13 years have past since it's release and he still has to top his performance in this film. I was familiar with the Rimbaud-Veraline story before seeing the film and I personally fin Arthur Rimbaud one of the best poets ever. He is brilliant and this biopic is too. Great acting, a marvel of a film, great scenic locations and that soundtrack!!! I loved it, the music is wonderful, I thought it was a breathtaking film, I really did love it. The storyline, the characters, the subject matter, the actors, the music, the locations, the whole film! it truly is a masterpiece. I encourage anyone who likes dramas and biopics because this is one of the best biopics. Arthur Rimbaud himself would be proud with the efforts of the cast and crew because they bring his life story to life again, for our generation and to be honest, they do him proud.