Germinal (1993)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri (writer)
Arlette Langmann (writer)

Release Date:

March 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

It's mid 19th century in northern France. The story is about a coal miner's town. The workers are exploited by the mine's owner. One day, they decide to go on strike, and the authorities repress them.

Plot Keywords:

Strike | Mine Owner | France | Coal Miner | Coal

Awards:

2 wins & 10 nominations

Cast

Miou-Miou	...	Maheude
Renaud	...	Étienne Lantier
Jean Carmet	...	Vincent Maheu dit Bonnemort
Judith Henry	...	Catherine Maheu
Jean-Roger Milo	...	Chaval
Gérard Depardieu	...	Toussaint Maheu
Laurent Terzieff	...	Souvarine
Bernard Fresson	...	Victor Deneulin
Jean-Pierre Bisson	...	Rasseneur
Jacques Dacqmine	...	Philippe Hennebeau
Anny Duperey	...	Madame Hennebeau
Gérard Croce	...	Maigrat
Frédéric van den Driessche	...	Paul Négrel
Annick Alane	...	Madame Grégoire
Pierre Lafont	...	Léon Grégoire

Runtime:

160 min | South Korea:144 min

Country:

Belgium | France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Spain:13 | UK:15 (cut) | South Korea:15 (cut) | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Germany:16 (w) | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Nord, France

Company:

AMLF

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the film, when Etienne and Catherine are looking for the way out of the mine, we see the shadows of the lamps on the right wall of the tunnel. It's to be supposed that the only light inside the mine came from the lamps.

Quotes:

Etienne Lantier: Capitalist tyranny is destroying us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ça commence aujourd'hui (1999)

A French epic masterpiece and "must see" for movie buffs.

"Germinal", based on a novel by Emile Zola, is an epic film which studies the anatomy of a strike in a 19th century French coal mine. During it's 2.5+ hour run time, the film shows the wretchedness of coal miners, their deplorable living conditions, their attempts to organize, negotiations, strike, rioting, police suppression, sabotage, etc. The story is woven around a handful of characters who represent the forces at work; management, union, profiteers, scabs, etc.

About Zola's novel, Havelock Ellis wrote: "It was neither amusing enough nor outrageous enough to attract the multitude". So it is with the film which emphasizes realism over romanticism and exists more as a study of a timeless social/political issue than pure commercial entertainment. A must see for cinema buffs but not likely have broad commercial appeal.