Adapted from a 1909 novel by Jack London yet set in a provocatively unspecified moment in history, Martin Eden is a passionate and enthralling narrative fresco in the great tradition of classic Italian films.
The self-taught, proletarian Martin (played by a marvelously committed Luca Marinelli) hopes that his dreams of becoming a writer will help him rise above his station to marry a wealthy young university student (the luminous Jessica Cressy). Dissatisfactions with working-class toil and bourgeois success lead to political awakening and destructive anxiety in this enveloping, superbly realized epic. (127 mins., DCP)
As A. O. Scott wrote in his enthusiastic New York Times review, “Marcello’s mock-epic 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...an absolute blast.”
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MADE POSSIBLE BY
Greater Columbus Arts Council
American Electric Power Foundation
L Brands Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Huntington Bank
Nationwide Foundation
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams
Kaufman Development
Cardinal Health Foundation
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Martin Eden