After saving a young scion of the industrial middle class, the sailor Martin Eden is invited to the boy's home, where he falls in love with Elena, his beautiful sister. The refined young woman becomes the object of Martin's affections and a symbol of the social status he aspires to achieve. At the cost of enormous efforts and the obstacles of his poor origin, Martin pursues the dream of becoming a writer. His involvement with socialist circles brings him into conflict with Elena and her bourgeois world.

„One of the most original contemporary Italian directors Pietro Marcello deconstructs the famous novel from Jack London, by transferring its plot to Europe and setting it in abstract Nove Cento. It brings up relevant political questions about the importance of culture and education for society's well-being. Are they powerful enough tools for emancipation?" (Aistė Račaitytė)

The film is presented by the Italian Culture Institute in Vilnius