A richly shot biopic, Miss Marx is an audacious retelling of the life of Eleanor Marx, Karl Marx’s youngest daughter, from Italian director Susanna Nicchiarelli.
Tracing Eleanor Marx’s (Romola Garai, Emma) life from the death of her father onwards, through her politics and activism as well as her personal life, Miss Marx paints a fascinating portrait of the socialist and feminist. Romola Garai shines as Eleanor, amongst the first women to link the themes of feminism and socialism, as she takes part in the workers’ battles and fights for women’s rights and the abolition of child labor.
Creating a visually stunning representation of Victorian Britain, from factory gates to lavish living rooms, Nicchiarelli captures the domestic reality of Victorian life, shifting between activism, day to day life with friends including Friedrich Engels (John Gordin Sinclair, Nico 1988) and her difficult relationship with Edward Aveling (Patrick Kennedy, The Queen’s Gambit).
This is a bold portrait of a Victorian woman torn between her public and private lives, her intellect and her heart.
