Martin Eden struggles to rise above his destitute, proletarian circumstances through an intense and passionate pursuit of self-education, hoping to achieve a place among the literary elite.
Martin Eden■
Synopsis
Adapted from a 1909 novel by Jack London yet set in a provocatively unspecified moment in Italy’s history, Martin Eden is a passionate and enthralling narrative fresco in the tradition of the great Italian classics.
Martin (played by the marvellously committed Luca Marinelli) is a self-taught proletarian with artistic aspirations who hopes that his dreams of becoming a writer will help him rise above his station and marry a wealthy young university student (Jessica Cressy). The dissatisfactions of working-class toil and bourgeois success lead to political awakening and destructive anxiety in this enveloping, superbly mounted bildungsroman.
Credits
Rating: 12A
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Pietro Marcello
Stars: Luca Marinelli, Jessica Cressy, Vincenzo Nemolato
Reviews
"Spellbinding...One of the best films of the last decade."
Sight & Sound
★★★★
“A cinematic knockout... the sort of movie that restores your faith in an art form.”
Rolling Stone
★★★★
