The Dead Don't Hurt

The Dead Don't Hurt

In the 1860s, fiercely independent French-Canadian Vivienne Le Coudy embarks on a journey with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen, attempting to forge a life together in the dusty town of Elk Flats, Nevada. When Holger decides to go fight for the Union in the burgeoning Civil War, Vivienne must fend for herself, which isn't easy in a town controlled by a corrupt mayor.

  • Released:
  • Runtime: 130 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Western
  • Stars: Garret Dillahunt, W. Earl Brown, Viggo Mortensen, Vicky Krieps, Danny Huston, Ray McKinnon, Solly McLeod, Alex Breaux, Michael Weaver, Nadia Litz, Colin Morgan, Luke Reilly, Atlas Green
  • Director: Viggo Mortensen
 Comments
  • mark_lyons_7 - 18 June 2024
    Great Western
    This is a very good western. Viggo Mortensen, writing and directing, shows great skill in scene setting and character development. It is visual treat, full of bright colours against the arid background f the Wild West.

    The plot is not new but the characters inhabiting the story are. Vivienne grows up in awe of her father and seeks to emulate her heroine Joan of Arc, the image of the saviour knight features. When grown Vivienne meets Olsen and moves to a cabin on the outskirts of a town about to see an explosion flux of money from the new mines in the locality. Olsen signs up to join the Civil War leaving Vivienne at home. Mortensen handled all of this with a deft touch. Vivienne and Olsen's love is wondrous and infectious. Great to see a western on the big screen and Mortensen has delivered on all fronts.
  • henrylee-71252 - 7 June 2024
    Touching and thoughtful take on a western
    Viggo takes a unique approach to this smaller western story, presented non-linearly. I won't spoil anything, but I thought the film's best accomplishment was the romance between Viggo and Vicki's characters. Their relationship was presented in a way that felt understated and profound. There were many scenes where the depth of feeling they have for each other was shown through simple actions and really fantastic performances. The overall plot itself is very good, but it is a simple western story. Rich jerks in town, a drunk entitled gun slinger, stuff we've seen before, and I think Viggo knows that, which is why I thought the editing choices and dream sequences were so great. If this movie was told in order it would be a pretty good western but probably wouldn't stand out as much as it does the way that it has been put together. Fantastic art direction and costuming as well.

    All in all this is a very touching film, with great performances and very grounded characters who show a depth of feeling. It really knows what it's doing and has a strong "vibe". Not a perfect film (whatever that means) but one that I'll definitely be thinking about for a long time, and I hope it gets the credit it deserves.
  • averageguyentertainments - 29 May 2024
    Dull, confusing, sadly boring western.
    I watched this via an Odeon Screen Unseen and hadn't been able to decipher the clues. As such I went into it blind, with no foreknowledge of what the film was, or anything about the film it turned out to be. I need to get one thing out of the way...I got my ticket at no cost thanks to my #mylimitless account, but if I'd paid for my ticket I would have walked out early and asked for a refund.

    It's not that it's a badly made film. Far from it actually. It's well made, the locations are great and it seems (linguistically at least) fairly historically accurate.....that's all the best bits I can think of.

    It's dull...I mean almost made me want to walk out dull. Colin Morgan has a small part in it, and for a film that has Merlin in it it has no cinematic magic. Aside from being dull it confused the hell out of me, and not in a good Donnie Darko way. The story was put together with two timelines, one the present and the other (either) the past or the future. I'm still not sure which way round it was. Honestly it felt like someone had dropped the script, put various bits in the wrong places, and then just decided to keep it like that.

    Somebody gave Viggo Mortensen a budget to make a western passion project, which he did....but then he forgot to put almost anything in it that makes a Western of any kind watchable. I know there is an audience for this out there somewhere, but it's not me...in the slightest. There's a short scene right at the beginning of a Knight on horseback that's maybe 30 seconds maximum, and I swear I thought I was going mad. It was (kind of) explained later, but it was just a really bizarre addition.

    Overall? I did not enjoy this and came the closest I think I've come in a long time to walking out of the cinema....you might like it. I don't know, but it's getting a 2.5/5 off me, and I simply can't recommend it.