"The opening moments of Martin Eden feature a trove of documentary images filmed in 1921, in the Italian port city of Savona: a throng of workers waving flags at a rally, a locomotive rumbling toward its destination. These fleeting glimpses of a young, still-industrializing century have been folded into a fictional story that appears to be taking place sometime later, judging by some of the inventions we see: a magnetic tape recorder, an adjustable desk lamp, a television set. But it's the conceit of this vibrant and passionate film, directed with mad brio by Pietro Marcello, that no meaningful difference between past and present or between fiction and nonfiction, really exists. It's as if the whole 20th century had been distilled, or scrambled, into an eternal, mercurial now. 

The novel was already its own semi-autobiographical hall of mirrors, refracting London's rise-and-fall journey through that of a restless, misguided and intensely captivating alter ego. This latest of many movie adaptations attempts an even bolder transformation: luminously shot (by Francesco Di Giacomo and Alessandro Abate) on 16-millimeter film, it's both a richly textured bildungsroman and a rambling cultural, political and historical panorama." —LA Times

Martin (played by the marvelously committed Luca Marinelli) is a self-taught proletarian with artistic aspirations who dreams of becoming a writer to rise above his station and marry a wealthy, young university student (Jessica Cressy). The dissatisfactions of working-class drudgery and ambivalence toward bourgeois success lead to political awakening and destructive anxiety in this enveloping, superbly mounted rags-to-riches story. D: Pietro Marcello, Italy, subtitled, 2020, 2h9m

Hop Members and Dartmouth students get free tickets to Hop@Home on demand films this season. Become a Member today >

What is Eventive and how do I watch the film?

This fall, all Hop films will be presented virtually and on demand through Eventive. Log in to the Hop website as usual, get your ticket, and in your Order Confirmation email from the Hop Box Office, you'll receive links and instructions to watch the film on Eventive. Please reference the Eventive Instructions and FAQ for more information.