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. It was the fourth most attended film of the year in France.

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.

Critical reception
The movie was well received by the critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 75% of 12 critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 6.9/10.

Box office
The film opened at number one at the French box office with a gross of 29.6 million French francs ($5.2 million) from 314 theatres in its opening week. It expanded to 456 theatres in its second week and remained at number one with a gross of 36.8 million francs ($6.5 million) and stayed there for a third week. The film had 6,161,776 admissions in France making it the fourth most attended film of the year. The film grossed $36.1 million worldwide.