It was released in the United States in 1914 as Germinal; or, The Toll of Labor.

With a running time of 140 minutes, it is one of the first films produced with a length of over two hours.

Étienne Lantier gets work as a mineworker after having been fired from his job on the railroad for revolutionary behavior.

Disheartened by the conditions in the mines, he returns to his revolutionary ideas and leads a strike of the mineworkers.

This article related to a French film of the 1910s is a stub.