Damien Olivier

Student Eric kills time by spying on his neighbors. Compulsively taking notes on everything within binocular range from his bedroom window, he harasses his neighbors by sending unsigned notes and making their private affairs public. When they discover his identity and draw him in, will this release him from his solitude, or confirm in his mind that he will always be the outsider?

Hired in the Montsou mines, Étienne Lantier meets the Maheu family and falls in love with their daughter Catherine.