Martin Eden
I think everybody has that time period in their lives where we not only believe that we are right, and command respect, but that it’s an imperative that the world take notice- my own, at least, has been on and off for many years. In “Martin Eden,” the titular character has long worked as a fisherman, but he has taught himself to read, and now, all he wants to do is write. The rejections come fast and furious, and throughout his journey, his political identity snaps into focus, but it stands outside of the movement of the time- are those views ones that matter in this point of history, or should he adapt?
This Italian film is adapted by the novel of the same title by Jack Landon (The Call of the Wild), and there are a few different ways to take Pietro Marcello’s adaptation. On the one hand, it is the story of a working-class individual who longs to tell stories, and make his career as a writer; on the other hand, it’s a story of clashing political ideologies, between the individualism of Martin Eden and the socialist populism that is rising up in 1909 Italy, which is when this film adaptation is set. Both of these narrative threads are interesting, both as someone whom has longed to transcend his working-class standing to commit to his creative side, and as someone who not only remembers his own political awakening vividly, and how certain I seemed of my stance at the time. The character of Martin is played by Luca Marinelli, and it is a terrific performance with fire and life that builds from the opening scene to the ending, where his worldview is challenged by a war breaking out. Are his political views going to change? Sometimes, a major event is all it takes.
In the novel, Landon uses the political machinations as a critique of Eden’s views, and it plays that way, as well, in the movie. But Marcello and co-screenwriter Maurizio Braucci also make a point of having Eden be an intelligent defender of his views throughout the movie, and the populist side the same. When political discourse happens during a film like this, that’s a hard balance to accomplish, and “Martin Eden” does is successfully. The transposition of the story feels natural, and befitting the times, and it’s also an interesting character drama. We are drawn into Martin’s journey every step of the way, and seeing where it leads him, we understand why he ended up where he did, and are curious to see where it leads next. It’s always a good thing when a movie about politics can do that.
