Germinal

Germinal (1993) is a French epic drama directed by Claude Berri — watch it online on iFILM. Northern France, mid-19th century: the mining town of Montsou is grinding its workers into the earth. Pay gets cut. Hunger spreads. When drifter Étienne Lantier (Gérard Depardieu) arrives looking for work, he finds a community on the edge of revolt — and becomes the unlikely voice pushing it over.

Based on Émile Zola's 1885 novel, the film was shot with uncommon physical honesty: the darkness of the shafts, the cramped company housing, the desperation that turns a protest into something uglier. The cast includes Miou-Miou, singer-turned-actor Renaud, Jean Carmet, and Judith Henry. At around 160 million francs, it was among the most expensive French productions of its era.

Zola wrote the book as a document of what industrial capitalism does to human beings. Berri's film doesn't soften that. Stream Germinal (1993) online on iFILM.