L'Assommoir

L'Assommoir is a 1909 French drama film directed by Albert Capellani, adapting the eponymous 1879 play by William Busnach et Octave Gastineau, itself based on the 1877 novel by Emile Zola. It is the first French feature-length film and the second produced by the Société cinématographique des auteurs et gens de lettres (SCAGL) [fr]. Plot Part one In the street in front of Hotel Bon Coeur, Lantier is flirting with Virginie. Gervaise arrives and follows Lantier inside. In their room, Lantier and Gervaise start a fight but they stop when their friend Coupeau enters the place. Lantier asks her for money. After giving him her purse, Gervaise takes her bundle of clothes and leaves for her work. Lantier packs his things, puts his trunk on a cab and leaves after having given a note to a young boy. Gervaise arrives at the public wash house, where she begins her toil. Virginie, one of Gervaise co-workers, taunts her about the loss of her lover. Soon the boy arrives at the laundry and gives Gervaise Lantier's note that reads: "I have had enough of your jealous outbursts, and have decided to leave you. Don't worry about me: I have found consolation. Lantier." Virginie looks at her with a triumphant sneer and under her breath makes slurring remarks. Gervaise turns on her, giving her a terrible beating. In front of the wash house, Gervaise sees Virginie enter a cab with Lantier and drive away. A few months later, Coupeau meets Gervaise in the park and proposes marriage to her. Gervaise happily accepts and on their way home they stop at a café to inform their friends of the coming event. A drunk man starts a brawl and is arrested by a policeman. Gervaise makes Coupeau swear that he will stop drinking. The couple invite their friends to a party for their wedding in a guinguette. They dance to the sound of a barrel organ.