Germinal

1994 • 151 minutes

About this movie

This lavish adaptation of Emile Zola's epic novel about striking coal miners, star Gerard Depardieu as Maheu, a simple miner who struggles to make a life for his wife and seven children whilst working in the mines of Le Voreux. When Etienne Lantier, a Belgian outsider, comes to town looking for work, he is befriended by Maheu and employed alongside the hard-working family and soon begins to speak out about social change and the appalling conditions of the coal mines. The contrast between the wealthy villas and lavish meals of the French aristocracy and the hellish atmosphere of the mines, where the workers earn just enough money to keep from starving, is starkly illustrated, in this painstaking and moving evocation of a true classic of French literature. 1993 Pathe Renn Productions