Total eclipses on film: A cinematic guide to watching the world go dark

A cinematic guide to watching the world go dark|

The sun is without a doubt the largest and brightest star in our planetary system. So it’s no surprise that in addition to lighting up the day and feeding the chlorophyll of our green leafy vegetables, that big burning ball has also emerged as one of the biggest stars in motion pictures.

It’s true. Ever since the advent of film, there have been countless movies and television specials made about Mr. Sun (that’s one of them, by the way, “Our Mr. Sun,” a Bell Labs documentary from the 1950s).

Now, with a real eclipse scheduled for the morning of Monday, Aug. 21, there is clearly no better time than this weekend to catch up on some of the best, worst, and most enlightening movies to feature a full eclipse of Our Mr. Sun.

Here are a few suggestions.

KING SOLOMON’S MINES (1937)

Notable mainly for an appearance by the great Paul Robeson, this fairly faithful adaptation of the novel by H. Rider Haggard has one major deviation from the book. In the original, there is a well-timed lunar eclipse that, in the movie was turned into a solar eclipse. It’s still a fairly spectacular scene, though the film feels seriously dated these days.

A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT (1949)

Adapted to the screen numerous times, the Bing Crosby version of Mark Twain’s fantasy novel retains the novel’s own well-timed solar eclipse. It’s a supremely satisfying moment in which the time-traveling Bing fools Arthur, Merlin and all the other medieval science-doubters, by threatening to black out the sun if they proceed with trying to burn him at the stake. His own confidence buoyed by the almanac that assures him a solar eclipse occurred at 12:03 p.m. on June 21, 528 A.D. For what it’s worth, there was no total eclipse of the sun in the year 528. Close though. The nearest total eclipse was on Jan. 26, 529 A.D.

LADYHAWKE (1985)

In this other epic medieval fantasy, starring a pre-Ferris Buehler Matthew Broderick as a thief called the Mouse, a curse is put on two lovers: the beautiful Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer) and the stalwart knight Etienne (Rutger Hauer). The curse turns the lady into a hawk when the sun is up, and the knight into a wolf when the sun is down. A well-timed eclipse (is there any other kind in these movies?) allows the separated lovers to see each other and embrace for the first time.

DOLORES CLAIBORNE (1995)

Based on Stephen King’s novel, the movie version features one of the greatest solar eclipses ever put on film. The story is about a bitter woman (Kathy Bates, sensational in this) who is widely believed to have once murdered her husband (David Strathairn) during a total eclipse of the sun. In the meticulously recreated flashback that shows the eclipse, the world really does seem to fade into an eerie darkness, as the characters scamper about with “eclipse viewers,” ultimately revealing what really happened on that dark (literally) day so long ago.

APOCALYPTO (2006)

Mel Gibson’s follow-up to the Aramaic-with-subtitles “The Passion of the Christ” was this “Mayan-with-subtitles” epic about the fall of Mayan Civilization. In the film, a well-timed solar eclipse (ahem) so fills the Mayan king and queen with fear, they decided not to behead some people they were about to sacrifice. Not a good decision, it turns out. The eclipse in question is gorgeously filmed, and the soundtrack by James Horner comes close to convincing us that the end of the world has really come.

So, what do we learn from all of this? Not much, other than the fact that Hollywood really does love a well-timed eclipse, and that if you really want to appreciate the coming eclipse this Monday, you should: A. check your almanac to make sure you have the right day; B. stay close to wolves and hawks, just in case; C. avoid anyone who looks like Kathy Bates; and D. make sure you have James Horner’s soundtrack to “Apocalypto” on your Eclipse Day playlist. The end of the world, or even civilization, might not come during the few moments the sun goes dim, but with music that good, you know this eclipse is still going to be epic.

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