The Inheritors (1998) @ Die Siebtelbauern

Sophie Rois and Simon Schwarz get fresh in a pig-pen for The One-Seventh Farmers.

At a glance:

"Hooray! We now own the shit we work on!"

Die Siebtelbauern (literally: The One-Seventh Farmers) is a most unusual film and I don't mean unusual like Being John Malkovich (1999) or Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky (the Anatomie movies) and set in early 20th century rural Austria, it tells the story of how seven very poor farmhands work and toil on a miserable valley farm daily until one fine day their landlord is murdered and their lives are changed forever. The dead proprietor was heirless and surprisingly left a will which detailed pronounced insults to all his constantly mistreated workers, yet bequeathed them the said property! The other villagers and land owners are shocked and angry while the lucky seven tries to make sense of their newfound status. Instead of sellin it, they voted to keep the land and work on it themselves. This bold decision disrupts the rigid social order of the village and many people are unhappy. However, as events unfold it becomes apparent that there is more than meets the eye and a dark family secret could hold the key in settlin all affairs. Sounds like an entertainin story, no?

Simon Schwarz

Bad news on the doorstep:

I saw this many years ago but I remember bein disappointed. For that premise, it could have been a grippin drama but it was rather borin and confusin instead. Not sure what the director wanted the audience to derive from the story. It was too subtle to suggest there is a political message underpinnin it and yet too elaborate for one to think that there isn't. However, I enjoyed the Alpine backdrop very much and the scenes of mud-wrestlin in a pig pen or reapin crops from the field added a necessarily authentic rural feel to the movie.

"Nobody can beat me up anymore, right?"

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

The actors did alright by most standards and I particularly liked all the scenes at the dinin table where they discuss what to do next. Enjoyed this film in patches but not too impressed by it generally. With some nudity and sex, it's rated R in the States, whereas in the UK, the DVD release is rated 15. It runs 95 minutes and the disc contains a short cast filmography. Apparently this DVD is now out of print in the UK. Anybody wants to make me an offer for my copy? Actually I might give this a rewatch tonight since I was quite young when I first saw it.★★1/2

Anatomy (2000) @ Anatomie

"Hi, stud. Do you know the strongest muscle in a woman's body?"

At a glance:

Anatomical obscenity, anyone? Stefan Ruzowitzky German slasher was apparently big bucks back home and did well enough to get an English-dubbed release Stateside. It's a decent premise at first really. A promisin medical student gets the chance of a lifetime to attend the prestigious Heidelberg Institute for physicians and surgeons. She befriends a fellow student and a terminally-ill drifter on the train on the way there and they get accustomed to life on campus. Horror of horrors, the two girls are shocked to find the drifter on the dissectin table in one lecture. As events unfold, we are shown the possibility that there might be a sinister conspiracy goin on in the institute.
Bad news on the doorstep:
Suspenseful but not the kind of terror that lasts years after you've seen the film. The story disintegrates into a shock-value number in the last act as we are shown some rather unimpressive twists, included no doubt to convince us that this isn't another thoughtless run-of-the-mill gore fest. I knew about this film only because of Franka Potente, the lead actress from Run Lola Run (1998).

Perennial wonderment:
Don't we all love traditional FX instead of CG crap? The special effects here are pretty good. You can read on IMDb that the models of preserved human bodies are so well-done it has been offered up for real life medical teachin.

"I knew it. I should've just studied Accounting."

Reminds me of:

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997).

Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?

Less blood than Saw (2004), more story than Scream (1996) and just about the same durability as The Skeleton Key (2005) or The Descent (2005). Two and a half stars. The DVD release I got is loaded with extras - deleted scenes, interviews, featurettes, storyboards, filmographies and even a very sexy Anna Loos music video of the track My Truth. Come to think of it, the soundtrack is quite alright and was released as an album, I found out. If you like it, you can consider movin on to its sequel - Anatomie 2 (2003.

Trailer for the curious:

Bonus material:

Japanese poster for Anatomie (2000). Neat, no?