Germinal by Emile Zola

            The movie "Germinal", based on the book by Emile Zola, centers on the coal mining industry of nineteenth century France. Though it focuses mainly on Montsou, the miners' hometown, the movie explores the lives of the upper class, the mine officials, and a other few citizens of Montsou. .
             Those who worked at Montsou's main mine received such meager wages that it became unbearable for the miners to continue to work for such little pay, and they proceeded to revolt in the form a strike. .
             The strike was by Maheu, a good worker whose lineage had worked "below " for generations, and Ettiene Lantier, a man of the south whose ideas inspire the strike. Though Lantier's ideas of reform have a large impact on the entire mining community, his strike in Montsou fails because it does not have the proper planning or support. Germinal shows the oppression of the miners before, during, and after the strike, using Maheu's family as a focal point.
             The miners of Montsou had been suffering long before Lantier arrives with his beliefs. Maheu's family is so poor that all of the ten family members sleep in two bedrooms with two people per bed, save for the baby, Maxime. Magrait, the owner of the local general store, is very cheap and unmerciful to the poor citizens of Montsou. He barely gives the miners any food, and when he gives away extra goods, it is usually due to his sexual activity with some of the town's women though he is married. Because of their low wages and Magrait's prices, Maheu's family eats only water downed gruel and bread, excluding protein any from their diet. The mines leave their workers so black from the coal that they must spend much of their time washing it off. Unfortunately, Maheu's family is so poor that everybody must bathe in the same tub without changing the water. .
             The mines themselves are very harsh and the workers are so powerless that they are oblivious to who owns the mine.