The Inheritors
The Inheritors
R | 09 October 1998 (USA)
The Inheritors Trailers

In a small farming valley in Austria in the beginning of the 20th century a tyrannical farmer is found dead, and all the farmhands are relieved to be free of their tyrant. But the farmer was childless, so suddenly they all inherit the farm together. Now conflicts begin, as nobody is the boss and nobody has to obey.

Reviews
Alicia I love this movie so much
Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen
Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.
maxbolam As I watched "Die Siebentelbauern", I was reminded of the film, "Gosfard Park", with its theme of class struggles among the "helpers" or servants and the upper class at that time. In both films, the moral of not judging another person by their position within society, such as if they are a cook or maid, but viewing them for their true personality, is something which can and should be applied to today's world. In terms of a "real world" application, one could view the abuse of a employee by their bose similiar to the kind of abuse, which occured between some servants and masters. Class struggles exist today, just in a different light-the work world.
Ace-33 It's unfortunate that a movie with gifted actors, an interesting premise, and beautiful cinematography has to be marred with simplistic us vs. them conflict and unrealistic drama. I just don't get it. The Inheritors starts off meaningfully well with a mysterious murder that results in 10 peasants inheriting a farm who previously never owned anything. Halfway through the story, however, the plot becomes predictable and often at times boring. There are also scenes that show complete disregard for justice by the church and state when the peasants are harassed in the most horrific way. Scenes like those are never as simple or as black and white as shown here. I can't believe an entire town would tolerate that type of curelty by its own citizens. Don't waste your time on this film. There are far better foreign films that depict the trial and tribulations of peasant life in the mountains of Austria. For example, see the "Last Valley" starring Michael Cain and Omar Sharif. Though the setting takes place in Switzerland, it's actually filmed in Austria. Now that's a film that deals with injustice in a much more effective and believable way!
Clarence Abernathy I really don't know why there are all those brilliant reviews in so many respected papers and magazines. This was a hell of a deception to me, an utterly boring (cinematography & story) display of cardboard characters played by wooden actors, esp. the highly credited Sophie Rois delivers an exceptionally bad performance. Too much of an artificial appeal to be realistic, too pretentious to be funny, too silly to be taken seriously: so the film doesn't even make it to be a "good bad movie". Not amused.
KenE I guess it's a measure of how effectively placed the class-war business of Austria's "The Inheritors" is, since so many people seem to think it takes place in the 19th century. Actually, the film is set in the early 1930s, with the shadow of the coming storm of Nazism and WWII ready to obliterate everything we're seeing, anyway.