Martin Eden (1979)

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Movie
German title Martin Eden
Original title Martin Eden
Country of production Italy , Germany , Switzerland
original language Italian
Publishing year 1979
length 358 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Giacomo Battiato
script Andrew Sinclair based
on a novel by Jack London
music Ruggero Cini
camera Pasqualino De Santis
occupation

Martin Eden is a ZDF four-part series from 1979 based on the novel of the same name by Jack London . The screenplay was written by Andrew Sinclair and the title role was played by Christopher Connelly . It was first broadcast on Sunday, October 12, 1980 and the three following Sundays.

action

Part 1

San Francisco Bay 1898. A young man goes ashore. His name is Martin Eden, comes from a poor background and is looking for casual work. During a fight in a pub, he protects a young man named Arthur Morse and is therefore invited to the family's upper class home. Here he meets Arthur's sister Ruth. You and your world fascinate him. He falls in love with the girl. And when Martin realizes that Ruth is reciprocating his feelings, he is determined not to go to sea anymore. Martin Eden wants to be a writer.

Title hero Martin Eden has strong autobiographical traits. Jack London considered the novel his best book.

Part 2

After his return from Alaska, where he tried his hand at gold digging, Martin Eden hopes for a career turning point in his life: He buys an old typewriter and devotes himself to writing. But the longed-for success does not materialize. In addition, there is private trouble for him: An argument with his sister's husband, where he previously lived, forces him to look for a new place to stay. A certain Benjamin gives him a job and accommodation in a laundry. The working conditions are grueling. Finally, Martin can't take it anymore, he gives up the job.

part 3

After a long time, Martin meets the uncomplicated Lizzie again in the harbor. He feels that she loves him. Lizzie becomes Ruth's rival. Martin is drawn to both of them. He also meets Maria, who lives alone with her children in a desert and takes him in. Ruth tries to get him to return. In vain - Martin stays. The first success as a writer finally came. But soon afterwards his friend Benjamin had an accident.

Part 4

After many disappointments, Martin Eden has finally achieved success. The magazines scramble for his stories, the publishers pay maximum fees for his novels. This means that he is “socially acceptable” in the eyes of Ruth Morse and her family. But he doesn't care anymore. The tremendous efforts have robbed him of all vitality and joie de vivre, and he has given up. The dreamed-up world of success now seems false, petty and vulgar to him. Resigned, he sets sail on a ship in the direction of Tahiti, where he wants to venture a new beginning far away from the hated English society. On the way, however, it becomes increasingly clear to him how hopeless his existence has become and he is overcome by an ever increasing longing for death. One night he secretly disembarked on the high seas in order to face the last fight of his life - the fight against a life that had become unbearable for him.

background

  • The novel Martin Eden is considered one of Jack London's most successful works. It should actually be called "Success". Ironically, Jack London (1876–1916) wanted to refer to the development of his heavily autobiographical title hero. He wrote a variety of novels and short stories. Martin Eden appeared in 1909.
  • The series was created in 1979 as a co-production of the Italian television RAI and ZDF . On Lake Como , not Alaska, leading actor Christopher Connelly sailed over the waves in his schooner. In Romania he went looking for gold. The interior shots were taken in Rome .

criticism

  • “A human life is presented in a true and moving way. 'Martin Eden' inspired a whole generation of American writers, and many thousands of literary lovers consider him the most important American novel ”(Irving Stone).

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