In the Land of Darkness

In the Land of Darkness

30 mins | Drama | Jan. 12, 1912

In 1912 Jasset turned from fantasy and spectacle to realism in making the first of two Zola adaptations, as part of Éclair's new series of social dramas. For Au pays des ténèbres, based on Germinal, he took his crew to Charleroi in Belgium to film in authentic locations, and although he updated the story to the present, he went to great lengths to recreate in the studio the detail of the actual mining galleries, exploiting the ability of film to be a recorder of contemporary reality.

In the Land of Darkness

30 mins | Drama | Jan. 12, 1912

In the Land of Darkness
In 1912 Jasset turned from fantasy and spectacle to realism in making the first of two Zola adaptations, as part of Éclair's new series of social dramas. For Au pays des ténèbres, based on Germinal, he took his crew to Charleroi in Belgium to film in authentic locations, and although he updated the story to the present, he went to great lengths to recreate in the studio the detail of the actual mining galleries, exploiting the ability of film to be a recorder of contemporary reality.
Producers Société Française des Films Éclair
Original title Au pays des ténèbres
Directors Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset
Writers Émile Zola

Cast

Charles Krauss

as Charles Maucourt

André Liabel

as Roger Joris

Cécile Guyon

as Claire Lenoir