The Little Austrian Socialism The action of this social drama takes place in the early twentieth century in Austria. In the morning, the workers of a farm lost in the mountains find the corpse of the owner. Everything suggests that the old man did not die of his own. It turns out that the late lord, a cruel and powerful tyrant, bequeathed his estate to his own farmhands, thereby wanting to quarrel with each other and once again, after his death, laugh at the representatives of the oppressed class.
But the farmhands decide not to refuse such a gift and, rallying, begin to equip the farm on the mountain to local rich people who have already rubbed their hands in anticipation of new lands. Now the new owners of the farm, who have never had a shilling, intend to build a new, happy life. The sudden appearance of the peasant commune, and therefore of competitors, drives the neighbouring landowners mad, and the cruel, insidious farmers are trying to do everything to prevent the peasants.
The film is shot in the style of "the best examples of Soviet cinema" and presents in a somewhat unexpected light the patriarchal mores of Austrian farmers. Closer analogies can be found by comparing “Heirs” with the famous Danish-Swedish film “Pelle the Conqueror”. A mixture of brilliant cameramanship, first-class acting work, local color and a qualitatively told story contributed to the success of this film at many IFFs.
But, despite the presence of beautiful landscapes, light eroticism and the director’s desire to exacerbate and dramatize the conflict as much as possible, taking it beyond social problems, the viewer is likely to be discouraged by the constant savoring of naturalistic details of carnal and rather poor peasant life.