From October 16-22, Martin Eden will be available to stream via Acropolis Cinema and Kino Lorber. Acropolis will receive 50% of all revenue.
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 marvelously 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.
A kaleidoscopic historical fantasia that seems possessed by the ghosts of Italian cinema.
- Imogen Sara Smith, Film Comment
Robust [and] innovative... the best page-to-screen transfer I've seen since Chantal Akerman took on Proust in La Captive.
- Melissa Anderson, Artforum
Bursting with ideas... a mad, brawny character study as well as a cheerfully anachronistic meditation on Italian political history.
- J. Hoberman, Artforum
Gorgeous, intellectually rousing classical filmmaking, with a star-making performance from Luca Marinelli. It's a movie where the political is achingly personal.
- Justin Chang, The Los Angeles Times
One of the most epic-feeling Italian movies in years, a throwback to ’70s-era big-canvas statements. Lead actor Luca Marinelli, rousing in every scene, comes within hailing distance of the young Robert De Niro.
- Jonathan Rothkopf, Time Out New York
(Available to download after screening date)