Michèle Cordoue

Año 1863. Etienne Lantier, despedido de la compañía de ferrocarriles por estar implicado en actividades sindicales, consigue trabajo en una mina del norte de Francia. Encuentra alojamiento en casa de la familia Maheus, donde todos son mineros y cuya hija, Catalina, se rinde a sus encantos. El trabajo es duro, mal pagado y peligroso. Cuando se enteran los mineros de que se les va a rebajar el salario, liderados por Lantier, se rebelan. La compañía decide contratar a otros obreros en su lugar y las autoridades reprimen a los rebeldes sin miramiento alguno.

A bossy count has trouble marrying off any of his six sons. When one of them, Adam, finally makes wedding arrangements, something happens to his bride to be: she develops amnesia after an accident.

Philippe Perrin, a young engineer passionate about his work, leads the construction of a huge dam in the High Alps. Like all the men who work on the building site, he gives the best part of himself. Unfortunately, his health deteriorates but he refuses to follow the doctor's orders as well as the advice of Micheline, a young nurse who has fallen in love with him. However, driven by the evolution of his illness, Philippe finally makes up his mind to go down to the valley for a treatment. On the very day of his departure though, a young Arab worker gets killed in a rock crusher...

Pacos Le Maltais, leader of a gang, lays down the law on the quay of Marseille. He fires one of his henchmen, Le Chinois, who killed a woman during the last bank stickup.

Talleyrand, el gran político francés de finales del siglo XVIII y primer cuarto del XIX, rememora en una reunión de amigos, la vida del Emperador de los franceses, desde su nacimiento en Córcega, pasando por sus gestas militares, hasta su muerte en el destierro. La cinta es una pequeña lección de la historia de Francia.

Celestin works as an organist at a girl's school. By day, Celestin is the meek and mild target of the girls' incessant practical jokes. By night, however, he is the celebrated composer of popular operas -- and the romantic vis-à-vis of a celebrated stage star. When schoolgirl Denise stumbles onto Celestin's secret, she threatens to tell all -- but only if Celestin refuses to escort her to the opening night of his latest opera. As a result, Denise falls in love with a handsome young soldier, while Celestin is accidentally shipped off to an army camp. A series of silly coincidences brings happiness to all concerned by fade-out time.

The first to die in an epidemic of meningitis in Vera Cruz is a French tourist. His wife Nellie, detached and indifferent, feels little grief and realizes that her coldness is her own doom. Over the next two days, she is attracted to George, a local drunk who does odd jobs for brothels and dances grotesquely for tourists in exchange for drinks. George has his own dark secret, a tragedy he caused that leaves him with a death wish. In assisting the local doctor to cope with the epidemic, these two emotional cripples enable each other to rediscover reasons to live and to love.

Ireland, 1922. In the midst of a national uprising, Catherine, a young orphan employed in household chores, goes in search of her brother whom she has heard in a dream calling for help.