Germinal (1993 film)
Germinal is a 1993 French epic film based on the 1885 novel by Émile Zola. It was directed by Claude Berri, and stars Gérard Depardieu, Miou-Miou and Renaud. At the time it was the most expensive movie ever produced in France. The film had 6,161,776 admissions in France making it the 4th most attended film of the year.
It won the César Award for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design, and was nominated for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best director, Best Writing, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Music and Best Production Design. The film was selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
The film, set in the nineteenth century, closely follows the plot of the novel, which is a realistic story of a coalminers' strike in northern France in the 1860s.Cast
- Miou-Miou as Maheude
- Renaud as Étienne Lantier
- Jean Carmet as Vincent Maheu dit Bonnemort
- Judith Henry as Catherine Maheu
- Jean-Roger Milo as Chaval
- Gérard Depardieu as Toussaint Maheu
- Laurent Terzieff as Souvarine
- Bernard Fresson as Victor Deneulin
- Jean-Pierre Bisson as Rasseneur
- Jacques Dacqmine as Philippe Hennebeau
- Anny Duperey as Madame Hennebeau
- Gérard Croce as Maigrat
- James Ard as the Priest
- Frédéric van den Driessche as Paul Négrel
- Annick Alane as Madame Grégoire
- Pierre Lafont as Léon Grégoire
- Yolande Moreau as La Levaque
Critical reception
The movie was well received by the critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 90% of 10 critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 6.9/10.
