The Young Karl Marx, Director Raoul Peck

At the age of 26, Karl Marx (August Diehl; INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, THE COUNTERFEITERS) embarks with his wife Jenny (Vicky Krieps; PHANTOM THREAD) on the road to exile. In 1844 Paris they meet young Friedrich Engels (Stefan Konarske), son of a factory owner and an astute student of the English proletariat class. Engels brings Marx the missing piece to the puzzle that composes his new vision of the world. Together, between censorship and police raids, riots and political upheavals, they will preside over the birth of the labor movement, which until then had been mostly makeshift and unorganized. This will grow into the most complete theoretical and political transformation of the world since the Renaissance – driven, against all expectations, by two brilliant, insolent and sharp-witted young men. In his first film since the Oscar®-nominated documentary I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, celebrated Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck (LUMUMBA) paints a vivid portrait of another of history’s most influential thinkers with THE YOUNG KARL MARX. A fervently intelligent chronicling of the blood, sweat and debate that went into the creation of a manifesto and a movement, the film premiered at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival. Director Raoul Peck joins us for a lively conversation on capturing the essence of a young Marx and Engels relationship, the relevance of Marxism today and the critical reaction to his film.

 

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For news and updates go to: theorchard.tv/the-young-karl-marx

More on Raoul Peck and his films go to: velvet-film.com

“Against all expectations, “Young Karl Marx” makes this kind of brainy content bracing and dramatic.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“Both intellectually serious and engagingly free-spirited.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times

“A spry romp through the seven years leading up to the drafting of the Communist Manifesto… Peck’s lively, twinkly drama is at heart a bromance.” – Lee Marshall, Screen International

 “[A] sinewy and intensely focused, uncompromisingly cerebral period drama… It gives you a sense of what radical politics was about: talk.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

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