Adaptations
The novel has been filmed a number of times, including:
- 1963: Germinal, directed by Yves Allégret, starring Jean Sorel, Berthe Granval, Claude Brasseur and Bernard Blier.
- 1970: A BBC five part serial with Mark Jones and Rosemary Leach
- 1993: Germinal: a large scale production directed by Claude Berri and starring Gérard Depardieu and Miou-Miou, at that time the most expensive feature film ever made in France. Much of Berri's film was shot on location in the Lens and Valenciennes regions of northern France, and the extensive unemployment and poverty the cast and crew still witnessed there led to the formation of a society, "Germinal l'association", headed by Depardieu, to alleviate the suffering caused by crippling unemployment in the départements comprising the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
Read more about this topic: Germinal (novel)