The Dead Don't Hurt
Viggo Mortensen’s second feature is an unconventional western buoyed by the powerful presence of its lead, Vicky Krieps (Corsage, MIFF 2022).
In San Francisco in the mid-19th century, Danish immigrant Holger falls in love with French Canadian flower seller Vivienne, whisking her back to his cabin in remote Nevada. But a wallflower she is not. Vivienne makes improvements to their shared home and has taken a job at a local saloon when Holger signs up to fight in the Civil War, leaving her behind in a town besmirched by corruption. In his absence, she’s pursued by the lecherous Weston, son of the corrupt mayor’s shifty business partner. What will become of these star-cross’d lovers upon war’s end?
On top of masterfully incarnating Holger, Mortensen wrote the screenplay and composed the score of his second foray into directing (after 2020’s Falling). Though a western in setting and style, the film ingeniously transcends traditional genre tropes: it is told largely from the perspective of the strong-willed protagonist inspired by Mortensen’s mother, Vivienne (played by an impressive Krieps); the central romance unfolds in nonlinear fashion; and flashbacks are a regular occurrence. Shot in both Mexico and British Columbia, The Dead Don’t Hurt is a finely tuned, formidably humane account of frontier life during a formative time in US history.
“A rich, rewarding and fully fleshed-out drama … [with] the kind of role in which Krieps excels.” – Screen Daily
Tickets
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