Martin Eden

Italy/France/Germany | 2019 | Pietro Marcello

This passionate cinematic fresco, based on a 1909 Jack London novel that has been transposed to 20th-century Naples, evokes the sweeping Italian historical and political epics of yesteryear. The film focuses on a working class sailor (Luca Marinelli of Netflix’s The Old Guard) who aspires to be a writer and thinker. He self-educates himself in order to elevate his station in life and also marry a young noblewoman he has fallen in love with. “An absolute blast. Includes documentary footage, wealthy decadence, left-wing politics, angry speeches (in Italian!), beautiful women, square-jawed men, quotations from Baudelaire and the heroic deployment of manual typewriters, hand-rolled cigarettes, ascots and Volvo sedans. Everything I love in movies, more or less.” –A.O. Scott, N.Y. Times. Cleveland premiere. Subtitles. 129 min.

Martin Eden, a Cinematheque streaming exclusive, can be viewed online from 10/16 thru at least 11/19 via the link below. (Doing so supports the Cinematheque.) Screening fee is $12, and after opening the film, you have five days to watch it. 

https://kinomarquee.com/film/martin-eden/5f6cc6d35e8e250001bc197f