Martin Eden

Martin Eden

Winner of the Platform Prize at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and the Best Actor Award for Luca Marinelli at the 2019 Venice Film Festival, Martin Eden is a sweeping and introspective adaptation of Jack London’s classic novel—transposed from early 20th-century America to a timeless, unnamed Italy.

The film follows Martin Eden (Marinelli), a working-class sailor whose encounter with a young woman from an affluent family ignites his ambition to educate himself and become a writer. As he rises in intellect and acclaim, Martin’s idealism collides with the realities of class, capitalism, and the corrosive effects of success. His personal transformation becomes both a triumph and a tragedy—a meditation on individuality, disillusionment, and the price of artistic freedom.

Director Pietro Marcello blends archival footage, poetic imagery, and lush cinematography to create a film that feels both historical and modern, mythic yet deeply human. At its heart, Martin Eden is a story about the search for meaning in a world defined by inequality, and the existential cost of pursuing greatness in isolation.

Ambitious, politically charged, and emotionally profound, Martin Eden reimagines a literary classic as a cinematic odyssey of the human spirit—an elegy for dreamers who dare to transcend their place in the world.

Screening With:

Your Mother and I

Student Shorts Showcase

When his parents announce their divorce, 10-year-old Neil is convinced he’s stuck in a dream, and sets out on a mission to wake up. Divorce in film is always negative, always dramatic, and often victimizes the children. Your Mother and I is born as an exception to this unspoken rule – there is still room for humour.

13 mins 19s
Canada, 2019
Dir. Andy Reid
Language: English

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