Verlaine only 10 yrs older than Rimbaud
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ummmagumma — 12 years ago(February 20, 2014 03:16 PM)
Yes, that could be true. Perhaps if it had been a younger man playing Verlaine, we would've felt more sympathy and affection for their relationship, and the impact of their twisted minds would've been softened. Maybe they wanted the primary focus to be on the disturbing personalities of the poets, not on how they looked together. Leo already passes for a teen easily though, so was it really necessary? I think a younger actor could be equally capable of portraying the psychotic, abusive Verlaine. I also felt the two lacked chemistry, but I haven't watched this in so long so my memory is hazy.
But from a realistic viewpoint, the role is pretty provocative and perhaps controversial (nudity, gay scenes, etc). Maybe they didn't have a large pool of potential Verlaines to begin with, and Thewlis was the best fit. Not sure, really. -
archer6749 — 11 years ago(June 26, 2014 12:00 AM)
I was about to say the same thing. Alcohol does play a role on someone losing their youth but if you saw the real Paul you would see that he did look older than his age simply because he was balding in his late 20's and had a beard.
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IcingOnTheCake — 11 years ago(June 26, 2014 04:16 PM)
I have seen the real Verlaine. I knew about them prior to seeing this film.
Genetics and such can play a part but a hard life and/or hard living doesn't help.
People also generally aged faster then than now.