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The Inheritors

Play trailer Poster for The Inheritors R 1998 1h 35m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
75% Tomatometer 12 Reviews 65% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
In 1930s Austria, slow-witted Severin (Lars Rudolph) recounts the tale of a murdered landowner who leaves his estate to the seven peasants who worked on his farm. Though the workers are delighted at becoming wealthy, they soon realize that co-owning a farm is an extremely difficult undertaking. Peasants Emmy (Sophie Rois) and Lukas (Simon Schwarz) try to take the lead, but they find themselves overburdened by their greedy neighbors, who want the land for themselves.

Critics Reviews

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Paul Tatara CNN.com 01/01/2000
This is a memorable, intriguingly complex piece of filmmaking that's worth your time and attention. Don't let the subject matter (or the subtitles) scare you away. Go to Full Review Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com 11/28/2009
3.5/4
Inspiring and surprisingly poignant. Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 06/25/2005
3/5
Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality & Practice 03/04/2002
A rowdy, bawdy, and clever morality tale about the elixir of freedom and the eternal clash between the haves and the have-nots. Go to Full Review James Berardinelli ReelViews 01/01/2000
3/4
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 01/01/2000
B
It is a dark morality tale about the powerful ones acting petty and cruel, while the peasants act with dignity and courage. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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12/06/2008 its a good movie but a sad movie. very nice. See more 10/14/2008 Funny, or bizarrely disturbing? ...I don't know... See more 08/15/2008 I found this movie by accident on cable tonight. It was in German with subs, but still very entertaining. No fancy cinematography, no digital imaging, not really much of a soundtrack. Still a very powerful story. Looking at the IMDB, most of the actors in the movie are German and have yet to be in any American movies. Nice to see that there are still simple movies that can rely on the story to be entertaining. I'm sure the budget was next to nothing. Most of the actors appear to be local or theater/stage actors. It's not like I fell in love with this movie, but it was a nice change from the eye-candy-filled hollow movies that are being mass produced as we speak. See more 07/03/2008 good drama with a twist See more 06/21/2008 A sometimes funny yet tragic commentary on the dark side of tradition and culture in this film about the transfer of property from an Austrian farmer to his peasants and the chaos that ensues as these new farmers challenge the balance between landowners, peasants, and the church, and are punished for attempting to do so. See more 12/04/2007 It is a good movie, but a bit moralistic. I did like the performances but I have seen much better german movies. See more Read all reviews
The Inheritors

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Cast & Crew

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Stefan Ruzowitzky

Director

Simon Schwarz

Lukas Lichtmeß

Sophie Rois

Emmy

Lars Rudolph

Severin

Julia Gschnitzer

Alte Nane

Ulrich Wildgruber

Danninger

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The Inheritors

The Inheritors (1998) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In 1930s Austria, slow-witted Severin (Lars Rudolph) recounts the tale of a murdered landowner who leaves his estate to the seven peasants who worked on his farm. Though the workers are delighted at becoming wealthy, they soon realize that co-owning a farm is an extremely difficult undertaking. Peasants Emmy (Sophie Rois) and Lukas (Simon Schwarz) try to take the lead, but they find themselves overburdened by their greedy neighbors, who want the land for themselves.
Director
Stefan Ruzowitzky
Producer
Danny Krausz, Kurt Stocker
Screenwriter
Stefan Ruzowitzky
Distributor
Stratosphere Entertainment
Production Co
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
German
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 19, 1998, Original
Box Office (Gross USA)
$197.7K
Runtime
1h 35m
Aspect Ratio
1.66:1