Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is absolutely beautiful movie that depicted brilliantly life of working class in France in the late 19th century. It is based on Emile Zola's novel L'Assommoir.The main protagonist is perfectly portrayed by amazing Maria Schell and we can see well into all of Gervaise's virtues, but frailties as well and understand her emotions and struggles she endures constantly in her troubled life. The ending leaves Gervaise in full misery and the director Rene Clement turns our attention to her little daughter Anna - called Nana - that will be the protagonist of another, even more famous Zola's novel of the same name.

This black and white adaptation of Zola's Gervaise is extremely well-acted and filled with pathos. From the gaiety of the early scenes, the audience is drawn into Gervaise's downward spiral and struggle in an impoverished, uncaring society.The cinematography conveys a sense of bleakness as do the costumes and settings. However, pacing is a problem. Whilst the most cinematographic sequence in the film (the fight between the women) occurs at the outset and gives the narrative a fast-paced introduction, the tempo slows a little too much during later portions.The sequence of the fall from the roof is also poorly-executed and appears more like slapstick comedy than tragedy.Aside from these two scenes, there is little action, so at times the film feels a little too much like a stage play. The cinematography is quite static as well which works well in some scenes but not in others. There are few close-ups to convey the characters thoughts and far too much middle-distance filming which distances the viewers from the action.Although it has its flaws, this is still a more effective attempt to capture Zola's work on film than the previous year's version of Nana.

First, the setting: how did Clement manage to re-create so well the surroundings of 1850s working class Paris? Then the costumes: faultless! The dialogue: painfully realistic. Gervaise's lover and her husband are portrayed as attractive men lacking will-power, although they are fairly decent to poor, limping Gervaise with the pretty face and indulgent manner. They actually take a liking to each other and live together with her, both scrounging off her laundry business that a third man donated to her.Another commentator pointed out the murderous urban working hours, more than 15 hours a day for most, and pay was just sufficient to survive. There was no welfare, no pension, no nothing. This was the workaday world against which Gervaise rebelled, determined to acquire her own laundry business. Of course, the useless men managed to wreck everything for her. It's a wrenching drama, with the inexorable sad ending. Extraordinary that only 10 people have managed to view it and comment upon it.

This as far as I know is the only film version of a very famous story by a French Novelist called Emile Zola. It is "L'Assommoir" and is the story of how drink and alcohol can ruin lives and kill. The film is extremely well acted but seems a bit "short" compared to the book which has far more lurid details concerning the downfall of each of the characters. The story takes place behind the Gare du Nord in the Northern Sector of Paris in what is called today the "Quartier de la Goutte d'Or". Unfortunately that area today bears absolutely no resemblance to that portrayed either in the book or the film and is extremely dangerous and violent - any visit of it is strongly advised against. Anyway the story is very moving but be warned the outcome is not a happy one. One other thing, the book is one of a series written by Zola about a family called "Les Rougon-Macquart". The series also includes the book "Germinal" which has several times been made as a film. But of all the films of Zola's books I have see, L'Assommoir (Gervaise ) is my favourite !