Martin Eden (2019)

Sometimes changes don’t happen gradually; they take sharp 180-degree turns.

Martin’s life completely changed when he met Elena, where he fell in love with both what she represented and who she was.

He was drawn to the injustice everywhere in life. Before meeting Elena, he only had the physical means to rectify what he considered unfair. Luckily, he was exposed to the world of books, and he decided to spend the rest of his life becoming a writer.

The desire to win over Elena and her family pushed him to the road of success but also cost him almost everything in the end.

The film is exceptionally well-made. The director chose to recreate 20th-century Italy with 16 mm film, which was an amazing choice! The 16 mm film gave us the quality and tones needed to faithfully represent the era. As for the sound, I am not sure how it was recorded, but the result is something that matches the picture in perfect harmony.

In a world full of razor-sharp pictures shot by 4k, even 8k digital cameras, the impressionistic images come across almost as a spa for your eyes. Everything looks so natural and organic.

Apart from the carefully chosen classical music, occasionally there are some pieces of electronic music used in the film. However, even those are not created digitally; they sound more like they’re created with proper analogue synthesizers from the 60s.

With a top-notch performance delivered by Luca Marinelli, lush and vintage cinematography shot in 16 mm film, and the occasional poetic documentary footage revealing Martin’s inner thoughts, I highly recommend this film if you want to take a break from the 8k high definition craze.