Martin Eden

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2:08

Martin Eden

2020

2h 9m

History

Drama

Romance

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

109 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

After Martin Eden meets Elena, he tries to achieve a place among the literary elite through self-education.

Critics Consensus

Martin Eden uses one man's quest for fulfillment as fuel for an ambitious -- and often rewarding -- look at a complex array of social and personal themes.

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Giovanni Marchini Camia

Sight & Sound

May 14, 2026

Pietro Marcello transposes Jack London’s novel from California to Italy in a sweeping, ravishing adaptation which creates a grand metaphor for 20th century Italian society.

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Simran Hans

Observer (UK)

Jul 12, 2021

4/5

The film traces Martin's love affair with the pursuit of individual advancement. Like capitalism, it's seductive.

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Guy Lodge

Film of the Week

Jul 9, 2021

In Italian star Luca Marinelli, he's cast a true-blue matinee idol as the tortured hero: in an extraordinary performance that matches brute physicality to soulful interior yearning, he carries the film on square shoulders.

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Christos Tsiolkas

The Saturday Paper

Aug 19, 2026

Pietro Marcello’s intelligent film adaptation of Jack London’s classic novel is far from inconsequential. It takes seriously the dilemma of what class relations might now mean in an age that is characterised as post-industrial.

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Ben Flanagan

Vague Visages

Feb 10, 2024

“In ‘Martin Eden,’ the games that Marcello plays with form and structure coalesce into an immensely moving film, which — grounded by the standout turn from Marinelli — offers a new direction for the stale “Great American Novel” adaptation.”

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Edward Porter

Sunday Times (UK)

Dec 6, 2022

3/5

As a kind of postmodern spin on a Visconti-type melodrama, the film is something to see. The storyline itself, though, is a bit tiresome in its old-fashionedness.

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Pietro Marcello

Director

Luca Marinelli

Martin Eden

Jessica Cressy

Elena Orsini

Denise Sardisco

Margherita

Carlo Cecchi

Brissenden

Vincenzo Nemolato

Nino

The Apparition

73%

62%

The Apparition

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TRAILER

for The Apparition

A Faithful Man

82%

55%

A Faithful Man

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TRAILER

for A Faithful Man

Francofonia

87%

47%

Francofonia

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Beyond the Farthest Star

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96%

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Paradise

70%

78%

Paradise

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Martin Eden: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

After Martin Eden meets Elena, he tries to achieve a place among the literary elite through self-education.

Director: Pietro Marcello
Producer: Beppe Caschetto, Viola Fügen, Pietro Marcello, Thomas Ordonneau, Michael Weber
Screenwriter: Maurizio Braucci, Pietro Marcello
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Shellac Sud, Regione Campania, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, Centre National du Cinéma et de L'image Animée, Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Film Commission Regione Campania, RAI Cinema, L'Aide aux Cinémas du Monde, IBC Movie, Arte, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Regione Lazio, Avventurosa, The Match Factory
Genre: History, Drama, Romance
Original Language: Italian
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 16, 2020, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 24, 2021
Runtime: 2h 9m

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