The Dead Don't Hurt

This movie is a great piece of art. It tells the story about 2 people trying to build their lives at the frontier. Sadly their dream get's interrupted when the civil war is starting. When Olsen (viggo mortensen) returns home from the war both start to realize that everything has changed. Everything in the movie felt natural and it was beautifully shot. If there would be a negative point for me then it would be that the first 30 minutes in the movie felt a bit confusing because there were some flash forwards and flash backs all in the mix. I give the movie an 8/10. I highly recommend this movie if you are a fan of the western genre.

What to expect when watching this movie: 1. A classic tale of revenge 2. Beautiful landscapes and nature.

3. A very intimate love story 4. All the ingredients of an good old fashioned western. (and yes a good shootout!)

The Dead Don't Hurt may sound like the standard issue story of revenge and small town corruption but its greatest strengths lie in how it prioritises its characters and their relationships over any action or exploitation. It didn't need to be told in a non-chronological structure however, it's still able to find its rhythm and become an engaging slow burning western.

Even though it has a few recognisable faces, the film is held together by two quietly commanding performances. Viggo Mortensen & Vicky Krieps both carry the film by themselves at certain points as they internalise most of their feelings whilst showing how they really feel in subtle ways. Together, they make for a believable couple who's quickly blossoming bond has a real tenderness to it.

Viggo Mortensen shows he's a jack of all trades by writing, directing, and composing the score as well as starring in it. His direction is beautiful as he uses Marcel Zyskind's cinematography to gently glide through the sets and display the gorgeous locations in all their natural glory, keeping that going throughout the end credits as well. His mournful western score is a natural fit for the intimate proceedings.

And trust me when I say I did not like saying that. I really hoped this would be something along the lines of The power of the dog, another low key, slow thoughtful western but sadly it wasn't in the same league. The characters weren't overly fleshed out, the most important part of the plot did not make a whole lot of sense. Why would you take a woman back to the remote place that you live only to leave. In the end the independent lady had to become a victim she couldn't be left alone after all, she needed a man to look after her. And finally we get to a revenge movie and even that is reached at a walk. Overall quite forgettable I am sorry to say.

The Dead Don't Hurt

Viggo Mortensen wrote and directed the Western, The Dead Don't Hurt, a story set at the onset of the Civil War. A Danish American meets a French (or Canadian, it's not really clear) American in the American frontier, and they fall for each other but choose not to marry.

Olsen's dream location is a barren piece of land that seems unsuitable for his partner, Vivienne. She makes the best of it by getting a job at the local saloon, and plants flowers and vegetables the best way she can. Olsen, however, feels this urge to go fight in the Civil War, leaving her by herself.

Like most stories of the American frontier, there was not a lot of lawful behavior. With Vivienne now alone, shenanigans ensue. In fact, we know most of the outcome during the opening scene, which I haven't decided was the right decision. But there is enough mystery that I stayed interested, though ultimately disappointed.

I had some trouble with the story as a whole. Showing patriotism for the new country that was still being settled is honorable. But abandoning a woman who begrudgingly decided to stay in a harsh environment was very pathetic. His selfishness sets forth a chain reaction that resulted in a very chaotic ending. Passion for what you love is one thing, but it's meaningless when it comes at the expense of who you love.

I'm also a bit tired of the lawlessness old West trope, even if it's an example of accuracy. Our cartoonish villain's (Weston) father is even afraid of him, along with pretty much the entire settlement. Come on, Viggo. The characterization was just sloppy, and Weston really was only there to give the most extreme of outcomes to Olsen's choice.

I disliked the very end, and I'll leave it up to my readers to see if they feel the same.

Despite the fact that the plot has plenty of holes, this western just about works. It's all about the determined "Vivienne" (Vicky Krieps), very much a woman in a man's world of pioneering in the 1860s. She encounters the honest and thoughtful "Olsen" (Viggo Mortensen) and travels to his remote, and rather ramshackle, shack where they begin to make an home for themselves. He takes a job as their sheriff and she, a little to his chagrin, starts working in the saloon. He is restless, though, and with the American civil war looming large, he decides that he ought to use his Danish army training and go enlist. She's not enamoured of the idea, but off he goes and that leaves her alone and firmly in the sights of spoilt local "Weston" (the rather un-menacing Solly McLeod). When "Olsen" returns from the war quite a few years later he is presented with a few shocks! Subsequent events take an even more tragic turn, and now he must face his demons and settle accounts. This is a grand looking romantic drama that takes it's time to get going and that allows Krieps to invest strongly in the maturing elements of her character. That he would just saunter off for years and leave her alone and unprotected does beggar belief a bit, and there's no denying that does negatively impact on the plausibility of what, rather obviously, comes next. Still, there is enough meat on the bones of the story, an effectively sparing amount of dialogue and a soupçon of chemistry between the two at the top of the cast that gives some indication of just how tough and lawless life was and at how difficult it was to be decent!