Dismissed from the railroads in 1863 for his union activities, Etienne Lantier found a job at the Voreux coal mine. But work was hard, wages were low and safety left much to be desired. Lantier tried to organize the miners into a union. When mine manager Hennebeau refused to negotiate, the workers launched a general strike, which ended with the intervention of the troops.
Acting
Jean Sorel's fiery idealist simmers then explodes.
Production
Claustrophobic mine sets that feel genuinely dangerous.
Director
Yves Allégret
Jean Sorel
Étienne Lantier
Berthe Granval
Catherine Maheu
Claude Brasseur
Martin Chaval
Philippe Lemaire
Henri Negrel
Claude Cerval
Victor Maigrat
Bernard Blier
Hennebeau
Jacqueline Porel
Madame Maigrat
Zoltán Makláry
Bonnemort
Simone Valère
Madame Hennebeau
Sándor Pécsi
Maheu
Michèle Cordoue
Widow Désir
Marianne Krencsey
'La Mouquette'
Gabrielle Dorziat
Catherine's grandmother
Gábor Koncz
Souvarine
Gábor Agárdy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the fourth film adaptation of Zola's novel; the 1993 version with Gérard Depardieu had 40x the budget but half the grit.
Released during France's own labor unrest in 1963, miners reportedly walked out of screenings — not from offense, but to organize.
FR
