“Germinal” on France 2 has divided viewers – The HuffPost

Sarah Alcalay – FTV – Banijay

SERIES – France 2 made an impression. The second channel aired Wednesday, October 27 the first two episodes of its new original series Germinal. An adaptation of the eponymous book byEmile Zola, written in 1885 and which tells the story of a strike in a coal mine in northern France.

Etienne Lantier (Louis Peres) flees Lille and goes into hiding at the Compagnie des mines. There he meets Maheu (Thiery Godard) and his wife (Alix Poisson), with whom he stays. Working conditions in the mine are more and more difficult, salaries are successively lowered by the director, embodied by Guillaume de Tonquédec. Etienne Lantier launches the idea of ​​a strike to protest against the arduous work underground and the miners follow him.

France Télévisions had in particular asked the team of authors to “modernize” Germinal. The dialogues, for example, are more contemporary than those of Emile Zola in his work. This update was not to everyone’s liking. Viewers did not fail to point out the “anachronism” of the series, some going so far as to see a form of “Wokism” in the work.

#Germinal, the north in the nineteenth century, no accent, dialogue in perfect French without a word of chti, a black tavern keeper, everyone perfects their own after a little Bath, a hero leading the class, wanting to modernize a text by Zola ok, but at this point it’s ridiculous

– FredL14 (@FreddyLeb) October 27, 2021

#Germinal and modern dialogues that strike the ear. There is a way to stay in today’s French without being so anachronistic

– Constance Jamet (@constancejamet) October 27, 2021

#Germinal I am really pissed off. This kind of “modernized” adaptation is a spit in the mouth of my ancestors. By wanting to screw up women and minorities where it doesn’t make sense, we hide the class struggle under the rug. #Repaythis fucking royalty

– tagrawla (@tagrawlaineqqiq) October 26, 2021

#Germinal I did not want to watch and for good reason, which I feared, they did it these supporters of benevolence … a gloubiboulga of theory #woke, all that is missing are scenes #vegan, a couple #LGBT and a small passage on the #GPA, and a totally distorted work.

– Care Bears Killer (@killerDeMelon) October 28, 2021

If the adaptation did not please some, France 2 can congratulate itself on having made a good audience score Wednesday evening. Nearly 4.2 million viewers followed the episodes, or 20% audience share. The chain is placed far ahead Good doctor on TF1 or even France has an unbelievable talent on M6 which obtained only 16% of audience share.

Yes Germinal was a hit and despite criticism, the series was also able to convince. “Overwhelming”, “A French fiction as we like it”, “Sons of minors, we can be proud”, “The message is faithful to Zola’s work”, the comments of encouragement are numerous. Some Internet users recall that the adaptation is not intended to be exhaustive in relation to the novel by Émile Zola and that it necessarily required concessions. Others were moved to see the story of their minor ancestors told on television.

Impressed by the series adaptation of #Germinal : its above all remarkable image quality, its modern purpose, its actors. Very realistic, overwhelming, difficult too. French fiction as we like it, of quality and ambitious. pic.twitter.com/s8bDiCmw1c

– Adrien (@Adrienfcht) October 25, 2021

#Germinal , it allows us to remind us of all the sufferings, difficulties, privations that our elders knew but also their courage, their solidarity, their taste for effort, …
Sons, grandsons, great grandsons (or daughters) of miners, we can be proud. pic.twitter.com/NzbblXl484

– Leroy_du_Coron (@Leroy_du_Coron) October 27, 2021

For all the haters, you have a HISTORICAL docu just after on the “black mouths”, that will calm you down …
There’s Zola’s book, too.
Any adaptation to the screen takes liberties, these quarrels tire me. The director never claimed to be doing a thesis!#Germinal

– ????⟆?????? (@ KPatt001) October 27, 2021

Who cares that the innkeeper is black, that the language is modern, that the actors are sometimes bad.
The message #Germinal is him faithful to the work of Zola, on the exploitation of the misery and the contempt of class.

– Nicolas Ducon-Genant (@Dadu_ronron) October 27, 2021

To all those who cry scandal that they put women in the mines in the series: watch the documentary just after it is clearly said that there were! #Germinal

– Lena ☮️ (@libert_len) October 27, 2021

Germinal is a series of six episodes and the next two will be broadcast Wednesday, November 3 on France 2.

See also on Le HuffPost: “Germinal” on France 2, the trailer for a new adaptation of Emile Zola’s work