Germinal (1993)

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.

Director:

Claude Berri

Writers:

Claude Berri, Arlette Langmann,

Stars:

Miou-Miou, Renaud, Jean Carmet

2 wins & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

It's mid 19th century, north of France. The story of a coal miner's town. They are exploited by the mine's owner. One day the decide to go on strike, and then the authorities repress them

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Plot Keywords:

coal miner | strike | mine owner | mine | coal | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France Belgium Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

De mijn

Filming Locations:

Nord, France

Box Office

Gross:

$378,854 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Renn Productions, France 2 Cinéma, DD Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Etienne Lantier: Capitalist tyranny is destroying us.

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Connections

Version of Germinal (1963)

User Reviews

the industrial revolution and the civil upheavel in europe chronicled

GERMINAL is a filmabout the industrial revolution and the upheavelof citizens and workers agaisnt factory and business owner monopolies which deprived workers of a decent living. The backdrop for this film and much of it's mainstory is the immergence of communism, socialism and unionism in europe and the battles of workersfor a fairliving and wage. Uncompromising in it's portrait of the living conditions of that era the film works and is one of the finest foreign films produced. The film gives us the story of people in this era of pre war europe yet succeeds in giving us visually as well as through dialouge a motive for the actions of the characters. In the eyes of the audience the actions seem justified. Germinal is a art house film wich works also as a social conscience drama and period piece. The movie also gives us a glance at why europe has been in so much upheavel through history.