Plot

Martin Eden struggles to rise above his destitute, proletarian circumstances through an intense and passionate pursuit of self-education, hoping to achieve a place among the literary elite.

After saving Arturo, a young scion of the industrial middle class, from a beating, the sailor Martin Eden is invited to the boy's family home. Here he meets Elena, Arturo's beautiful sister, and falls in love with her at first sight. The cultured and refined young woman becomes not only the object of Martin's affections but also a symbol of the social status he aspires to achieve. At the cost of enormous efforts and overcoming the obstacles represented by his humble origin, Martin pursues the dream of becoming a writer. Under the influence of the elderly intellectual Russ Brissenden, he gets involved in socialist circles, bringing him into conflict with Elena and her bourgeois world.—X

Based on the 1909 novel by Jack London, a young sailor named Martin Eden is welcomed with open arms into an industrial middle-class liberal family after rescuing the family's young heir, Arturo, from a violent attack. In their home, Martin crosses paths with Arturo's enchanting sister Elena, and romance blossoms. Martin then aspires to transcend his humble beginnings and climb to the top of the social elite as a writer, all to be worthy of Elena's hand.

The tale of an individualist proletarian in a time marked by the rise of mass political movements. In early 20th-century Italy, illiterate sailor Martin Eden (Marinelli) seeks fame as a writer while torn between the love of a bourgeois girl and allegiance to his social class. Based on the novel of the same name by Jack London, and winner of the Volpi Cup award for Best Actor at the 2019 Venice Film Festival.