Preserving the fastidious detail and moral clarity of Émile Zola’s 19th-century novel about a coal miners’ revolt in Northern France, Berri’s epic faithfully focuses—with great pathos—on the struggles of one family, headed by Gérard Depardieu and Miou-Miou. One of the country’s top grossing (and most expensive) films at the time, Germinal was nominated for 10 César Awards (winning two).

In French with English subtitles