rmanory Whenever I see a movie which deals with injustice stories I feel frightened that it may happen to me. Turn of the 20-th century Austria under the Keiser was otherwise a 'modern' country by European standards, and yet such an injustice story is very credible, and it could have happened elsewhere(although not exactly in the same way in classless rural America). The story line is tragic: a land-owner who has been ruthless and evil during his lifetime, is found dead. For an unknown reason he decides to be generous in his death and leaves his property to the ten peasants who were working on it. The plot thickens. The 'peasants' are not supposed to become property owners. The fact that they do own property now causes trouble with the rest of the village farmers who are unwilling to accept the new breed of farmers, they try to burn their property and this causes a chain of events in which Lukas, the main character, is killed and the others have to flee to America. The lawlessness of the ruling class is the topic here, and it hurts to see how much power they have.A second story line is that of another injustice, that done to Rosalind, the mother Lukas never knew, and who turns out to be the one who killed the farmer because of what he did to her when she was young. In a story resembling Charles Dikens's dramas, she was raped by the farmer and then accused of stealing from him. Her child is Lukas, who never knew his mother,and also never knew who was his father, growing up as 'the foundling' and being ridiculed by everyone in the village. The only flaw I found with this movie is that there are a few flat characters, such as the former foreman, who have no real reason for being so evil. The idea is the communist idea, of the exploitation of the poor by the rich, and the existence of the oppressing class society in old Europe. The idea of injustice by the rich and powerful is not new and can be found also in westerns. The film would have been more satisfying however if the final outcome would have been more positive, good overcoming evil in their own society. But of course, one cannot change the course of history, and indeed at that point in time the only way out of the situation would not have been fighting the system but fleeing to America.

mdm-11 When an old "Bauer" is found dead, his highly unusual "last Will and Testament" puts in motion an avalanche of events, and many dirty old secrets are unearthed, causing an uproar in the small community of landowners and peasants.This film offers many parallels to societies of various times. The basic element of two sets of justice, one for the (untouchable) upper class, and another for the little people, who have to accept whatever is dished out from above, can be likened to similar injustices happening to this very day.The brutality of the wrongs committed to the innocent is often shown in graphic realism. Viewers should be mindful of this, to not be offended by any shocking scenes. Non-gratuitous, thus essential to plot development, the violence furthers the story line.This film can be categorized as a tragedy, although a small glimmer of justice and hope for a better tomorrow is offered in the end. The occasional expressions of human decency and compassion are noteworthy. Only when others realize an injustice and show this by their acts of kindness towards the victims, can we be assured that a better future is before us. Internationally acclaimed, this film is well worth a watch!

Rick A.-2 "The Inheritors" is a truly great movie. Great art can invite you in and massage you, and guide you back out again, hopefully in a new direction. This movie does that for me partly because of its allegorical nature. I see it as a religious allegory, with Lukas as the Christ figure, and the land representing the mystical body. The movie's greatness comes in the way it points out of itself, to a more universal, democratic experience. In this way "The Inheritors" can be compared to another great film, "The Sweet Hereafter". Both generate their emotional impact in loosely holding the viewer while pointing to a possible world outside of the movie. To see the beauty, we simply have to be willing to enter into it.

dilbert This film is extremely well paced and beautifully photographed, and the characters are easy to relate to. Seven peasants unexpectedly inherit the farm on which they work after the farmer dies. The neighboring farmers view this as a breach of the rigid class structure in rural 19th century Austria and try to destroy the "One-Seventh Farmers." The tenacity with which the new owners defend their farm (and one another) is very touching. I loved it!