The Essential Films series of reviews by Ion Martea is intended to help readers understand how film has gone from being a mere curiosity to the most popular art form worldwide in little more than a century, by analysing individual films from the dawn of the medium to the present day. The selection of titles reviewed will follow a rough chronological path, aimed essentially at tracing the development of the medium. The films will range from early experimental pieces, through the silent era, Hollywood and World Cinema, as well as taking account of the independent avant-garde and the impact of television.
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Film reviews also serve another purpose, however. We all want to find the best in any artform. By selecting a number of pieces that might be considered mandatory for any serious filmgoer, Essential Films offers an opportunity to discover uncharted territory, as well as kindling a debate on our varied appreciation of the ups and downs of a form which some still argue does nothing but entertain us.
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This website is designed to offer a broad look at all the titles that were considered for the series. The exercise aims at building a personal canon, looking at all the various aspects of film-making that elevate the medium as one of the most important art forms of contemporary times.
Ion Martea
Ion Martea is a British award-winning poet, novelist and critic, whose work has been published in Moldova, Romania, USA, Japan and the UK. He was born in Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, in 1983, and he currently lives in London, United Kingdom.
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Ion made his literary debut at the age of thirteen. Since then, he has published three books of poetry and one novel in Moldova. He has edited three poetry anthologies and has translated English, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish and Polish poetry into Romanian, and Romanian poetry in English. Ion is working on his first novel in English. Between 2006 and 2013 he was film editor for Culture Wars, the online review of the Institute of Ideas in London.
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As director, writer and performer he appeared in several plays, including at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his On Productions theatre company. He has worked in radio broadcasting and television. In the world of film, he contributed to David Wilkinson's The First Film (2015). He is currently managing his own consultancy company IM Data IT Ltd, offering technology architecture services to a variety of clients in the UK and in the EU.
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He is a LSE graduate in Philosophy and Economics, with an interest in Philosophy of Film, specifically on the issues of representation of reality and identity construction. He initiated the Essential Films Series on Culture Wars in 2006, a series that aims at constructing a cinematic canon that is driven by conceptual analysis of the art form versus the more established entertainment criticism widely applicable to individual films.
Books by
Ion Martea
Păcat Primordial (Primordial Sin)
Chişinău: Pontos, 2002
Imn Omului Neprihănit (Anthem to a Sinless Man)
Chişinău: Pontos, 2000
Zbor de Prunc (Flight of a Babe)
Chişinău: Ruxanda, 1999
Doar Åži… (Only And…)
Chişinău: Lyceum, 1998