Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 9 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 2
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 0
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 1,739
Claude Berri's angry, ambitious epic, based on the 19th-century novel by Emile Zola, re-creates, as does the novel, the gut-wrenching poverty and the intense day-by-day struggles of striking French coal-miners in 1884 at the Voreux mines of France. The film centers upon the bitter toils of Maheu (Gerard Depardieu) and his family -- consisting of his iron-willed wife (Miou-Miou) and their daughter Catherine (Judith Henry), who also works in the mines. When a new miner, Etienne Lantier (Renaud),
R, 2 hr. 38 min.
Jan 1, 1994 Wide
Nov 30, 1994
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
All Critics (14) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (1)
Deals with a mining strike in 19th century France and comes across as a poignant depiction of class warfare.
An extremely moving tale that points to the ultimate hopelessness of the human condition.
Big and impressive in its epic scope, Germinal nevertheless suffers from uneven acting, over-the-top histrionics and a constant dark and dour tone.
A well-made historical epic filled with brutal reality and historical accuracy. Not the best of its genre, but quite entertaining and very informative.
May 22, 2007Super Reviewer
Vividly grim and grimy adaptation of the Emile Zola novel about unionization of French coal miners in the late 1800s. So realistic I contracted black lung from watching it.
January 31, 2012Super Reviewer
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