Gervaise (1956)

Gervaise Macquart, a young lame laundress, is left by her lover Auguste Lantier with two boys... She manages to make it, and a few years later she marries Coupeau, a roofer. After working ... See full summary »

Director:

René Clément

Writers:

Émile Zola (novel), Jean Aurenche,

Stars:

Maria Schell, François Périer, Jany Holt

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Maria Schell	...	Gervaise Macquart Coupeau, une blanchisseuse douce et courageuse
François Périer	...	Henri Coupeau - le second compagnon de Gervaise, un ouvrier zingueur
Jany Holt	...	Mme Lorilleux - la soeur revêche de Coupeau
Mathilde Casadesus	...	Mme Boche - la concierge curieuse
Florelle	...	Maman Coupeau - la vieille mère d'Henri
Micheline Luccioni	...	Clémence - une blanchisseuse, ouvrière chez Gervaise
Lucien Hubert	...	M. Poisson - un gendarme le mari de Virginie
Jacques Harden	...	Goujet - un forgeron, ami de Gervaise et d'Henri
Jacques Hilling	...	M. Boche - le mari de la concierge
Amédée	...	Mes Bottes - un camarade de Coupeau
Hubert de Lapparent	...	M. Lorilleux - un chaîniste, le mari souffreteux de Mme Lorilleux (as Hubert Lapparent)
Hélène Tossy	...	Mme Bijard
Rachel Devirys	...	Mme Fauconnier (as Rachel Devyris)
Jacqueline Morane	...	Mme Gaudron
Yvonne Claudie	...	Mme Putois - une invitée au repas de fête

Storyline

Gervaise Macquart, a young lame laundress, is left by her lover Auguste Lantier with two boys... She manages to make it, and a few years later she marries Coupeau, a roofer. After working very hard a few more years, she succeeds in buying her own laundry (her dream)... But Coupeau starts to drink after having fallen from a roof, and Lantier shows up... A faithful adaptation of Emile Zola's novel "L'Assomoir", depicting the fatal degeneration of a family of workers, mainly because of alcohol.

---

Plot Keywords:

laundress | laundry | poverty | cabaret | blacksmith | 

---

Taglines:

Heaped With Honors As Few Films Achieve

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

11 November 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Taberna

Filming Locations:

Franstudio, Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Agnes Delahaie Productions, Silver Films, Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique (CICC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First film appearance of Micheline Luccioni.

---

Quotes

Gervaise Macquart Coupeau, une blanchisseuse douce et courageuse: Morning came and he still hadn't returned. He'd been out all night. It was the first time. I was so proud to have the handsomest guy around, me, the gimp.

---

Connections

Version of Faldgruben (1909)

---

Soundtracks

"Laissez-moi dormir"
Music by Georges Auric
Lyrics by Raymond Queneau
Performed by Maria Lopez

User Reviews

Absolutely heartbreaking

Maria Schell plays the titular character in this film adaptation of Emile Zola's novel L'Assomoir. This is like the saddest movie ever. I seriously wept for twenty minutes after it finished, and every time I think of it I start to tear up again. Schell plays a poor washerwoman with little luck in men. Her first man, who never married her, leaves her with two young boys for another woman. Her next man, her first husband (played by Francois Perier), becomes a slave to wine, chronically unemployed and defying his wife and family at every turn for another drink. Sure, this is your typical suffering woman narrative, but, Hell, women have suffered throughout history, and this is a downright powerful story. The characterizations are very complex, and every actor in the film is absolutely perfect. L'Assomoir came in the middle of a cycle of twenty novels. Gervaise's daughter, Nana, was the focus of a later novel in the series (Jean Renoir adapted that novel, called Nana, in 1926).