Martin Eden

Name: Martin Eden
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: October 16, 2020
Duration: 129 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Autilia Ranieri, Carlo Cecchi, Carmen Pommella, Denise Sardisco, Elisabetta Valgoi

2020

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Kino Lorber | Release Date: October 16, 2020 | TV-PG

Starring: Autilia Ranieri, Carlo Cecchi, Carmen Pommella, Denise Sardisco, Elisabetta Valgoi, Jessica Cressy, Luca Marinelli, Marco Leonardi, Pietro Ragusa, Vincenzo Nemolato

Summary: Martin (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 anxietyMartin (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.… Expand

Director: Pietro Marcello

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: TV-PG

Runtime: 129 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Bilge Ebiri

Oct 20, 2020

The film is a masterpiece, so you should see it any way you can. Read full review

100

Manohla Dargis

Oct 15, 2020

The true miracle of this film is how Marcello translates both London’s scabrous tone and his lush, character-revealing prose into pure cinema. Lines have been plucked from the novel, yet even at its wordiest, the film is never weighed down by the burden of faithfulness. Read full review

The Film Stage Kyle Pletcher

Aug 23, 2021

Martin Eden marks a breathtakingly ambitious sophomore effort from Pietro Marcello, balancing elegant melodramatic storytelling with a fascinatingly oblique character study, gracefully mixing non-fiction and fiction narrative styles in the process. Read full review

Anthony Lane

Oct 19, 2020

There is more to ponder, in this uncommon movie, than there is to plumb. Broad rather than deep, and layering the vintage with the modern, it’s a collage of shifting surfaces — an appropriate form for a pilgrim soul like Martin, whose gifts, though plentiful, do not include a talent for staying still. Read full review

Dave Calhoun

Jul 7, 2021

It’s a daring spin on history and the power, or otherwise, of the individual: a puzzle that is well worth trying to solve. Read full review

Lee Marshall

Sep 6, 2019

Marcello and his committed, compelling lead actor Luca Marinelli deliver an always watchable take on the hoary old story of the struggling artist that is more interesting in its shape-shifting style and texture than in its rather conventional dramatic core. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Odie Henderson

Oct 16, 2020

It’s a slog at over two hours, much of it spent with Marinelli screaming or acting coarse. Read full review

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Brent_Marchant

Dec 23, 2020

Loosely based on author Jack London's 1909 novel of the same name, this Italian adaptation struggles to find its footing with an overly intellectualized narrative that attempts to fuse sociopolitical discussion with the merits of self-education and personal growth and development. Set in anLoosely based on author Jack London's 1909 novel of the same name, this Italian adaptation struggles to find its footing with an overly intellectualized narrative that attempts to fuse sociopolitical discussion with the merits of self-education and personal growth and development. Set in an indeterminate time in Italy's history (though the 1970s would be a good guess), the film follows the odyssey of an angry young working class man with minimal schooling who seeks to improve himself and rise above his social status by ravenously reading and pursuing a writing career after meeting a bourgeois love interest. It's a process that gradually turns him into an angrier young man when his vocational pursuits don't pan out, leading to personal dissatisfaction, unwitting political turmoil and the dissolution of his forbidden romance -- all of which ironically lead to his unexpected recognition as a gifted scribe, unexpected success and a new round of individual disillusionment. While the film is modestly interesting in the first half, it gradually starts to fall apart thereafter before completely losing it in the incoherent, overly dramatic final act. Don't let the lavish praise heaped on this offering fool you. This one is vastly overrated, to be sure.… Expand

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