Synopsis: GERMINAL is a lavish adaptation of Emile Zola's social reformist 1884 epic novel about striking coal miners in the Le Voreux mines. Gerard Depardieu stars as Maheu, a simple miner who struggles with his wife Maheude (Miou-Miou) and their seven children to keep from starving while toiling in... GERMINAL is a lavish adaptation of Emile Zola's social reformist 1884 epic novel about striking coal miners in the Le Voreux mines. Gerard Depardieu stars as Maheu, a simple miner who struggles with his wife Maheude (Miou-Miou) and their seven children to keep from starving while toiling in the grim and deadly mines of Le Voreux. The Maheu family live in great hardship, beginning work in the pits of the mines as small children and continuing to work until elderly and crippled. When Etienne Lantier (played by French singer Renaud II), a Belgian outsider, comes to town looking for work, he is befriended by Maheu and hired alongside the hard-working family. A literate and sensitive thinker, Etienne begins to speak of social change and the grave injustice of the coal mines and eventually convinces Maheu to help him organize a miner's union and a subsequent strike. Ultimately, Maheu and Etienne lead the local peasants in a violent revolt against the wealthy owners of the mine who live in great decadence and finery. Director Berri frequently cuts between the wealthy villas and lavish meals of the French aristocracy to the deep hellish pits of the mines, where the workers earn just enough money to keep from starving, in order to instill the obvious need for social change. The awe-inspiring recreation of the claustrophobic mines and the impoverished conditions of the local peasants is absolutely astounding, painstakingly capturing the deplorable conditions of the working class. Gerard Depardieu, Miou-Miou, and Renaud (II) give deeply powerful performances in this tragic, yet rousing, epic. GERMINAL was filmed entirely on location in Lillee, Northern France. [More]