The Dead Don't Hurt (2023) Poster

User Reviews

Review this title
11 Reviews
Sort by:
Filter by Rating:
7/10
The Dead Don't Hurt
CinemaSerf6 March 2024
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!
11 out of 15 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
8/10
Amazing western from Viggo
valentin-vdg14 May 2024
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!)
5 out of 6 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Nice in the end
ophone7730 May 2024
The frame of this film is ingenious, beautiful landscapes and most of the score played by a string ensemble with piano. Acting is also great with the main characters saying more with their glances than a thousand words.

The negative thing is this film takes ages to get to the meat of the plot, namely when Olsen leaves Vivienne to rejoin the army consecutively showing what happens to her while he's away.

Just before that we were at the point to stand up from our seats and leave the cinema hall. Luckily I held on to my principle to watch films to the end, even if they're bad, so in the end we had an enjoyable afternoon at the cinema.
2 out of 2 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
How was your war?
ferguson-627 May 2024
Greetings again from the darkness. It's fairly common for a film to open with a dramatic scene and then take us back for a period of time to show how the story arrived at this point. Of course, the other logical option would be to have that scene serve as the beginning of the story. What happens with this film is rare: The storytelling goes backwards AND forwards. We learn how the characters got to this point and we learn what happens after this moment. The person to thank for this is writer-director Viggo Mortensen. Highly regarded as an actor for years, Mortensen had one previous filmmaking project, FALLING (2020), which made the festival rounds.

Starring as Holger Olsen, Mortensen is a man trying to live a quiet life on the frontier in the 1860's. He spots lovely Vivienne (Vicky Krieps, excellent in PHANTOM THREAD, 2017) having a spat with her well off boyfriend, and very quickly she's drawn to Holger's flirtations. Her making the choice to leave a comfortable upper-crust life for a more challenging one with Holger, gives us a glimpse into the inner-strength and determination of this woman. Soon she is turning his dusty cabin into a home by cleaning, planting a garden, and adding touches of convenience ... such as they were 160+ years ago. And speaking of decisions, Holger makes a life-changing one when he decides to enlist to go fight in the Civil War. It's a decision she tries hard to talk him out of.

While he is soldiering, we learn much about the little town where Vivienne is stuck. A corrupt Mayor Schiller (the always smarmy Danny Huston) is in cahoots with his equally sleazy business partner Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, 2007), as they work their master plan of getting rich at the expense of others. Alfred tries his best to control his combustible son, Weston (Solly McLeod), who takes his entitlement to sometimes violent extremes against those weaker than him. Weston takes a real interest in Vivienne, and despite her best efforts, things go wrong between them.

A few years pass and Holger returns. In a brilliant bit of acting and surgical dialogue, Vivienne asks him, "How was your war?" The two work to re-establish their relationship in the wake of the changes that have occurred. When that opening scene comes back around, Holger sets off on a journey for personal revenge. In addition to the two timelines mentioned above, we also get flashbacks (sometimes via dreams) of Vivienne's childhood. By this time, we understand Vivienne and Holger very well. 'Still waters run deep' is a passage that came to mind while watching, and it should also be noted that filmmaker Mortensen and cinematographer Marcel Zyskind (DALILAND, 2022 and a frequent collaborator with Michael Winterbottom) include some wonderful shots of waterfalls, rivers, mountains, and vistas ... the breathtaking shots we appreciate from the western genre. The film deliberately moves slowly (as the times dictate) and captures the hardships of living off the land, and the struggles of separation, yet it also addresses one man's vengeance as necessary before he can move on. We find ourselves not surprised that Viggo Mortensen the talented and intelligent actor is also Viggo Mortensen the talented and intelligent filmmaker.

In theaters May 31, 2024.
1 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Pleasant Western that captures daily life in 19th century
filmtravel10120 May 2024
Warning: Spoilers
It is always a pleasure to see Viggo Mortensen in a film, especially when he's directing and writing. He Definitely does a great job of capturing what it was like to live back in the 19th century West and the same time a very unique perspective of an independent woman from the city that Brings her own virtues and destiny to wild country with life's lessons and superb acting by his co star.

The cinematography music and acting is top notch and there is very little that is missing from this film, except for the hard to believe aspect that Viggo's Holgar Olsen character having lost a prior wife by going to war, so it's difficult to imagine his character is stubborn and stupid enough to commit the same mistake and end up with worse repercussions that are hard to swallow. Yet maybe that's the unique aspect of the story that some men never learn yet keep loving regardless of their human nature and desire to experience war and its consequences.

However it is a beautiful tale that might be appealing to some that Like seeing the simplistic lifestyle people lived back in those days and it has enough twist and turns to make it commendable with a few big surprises and is more of a character study. The flashbacks are the only bit that is a little confusing almost like an afterthought and that is probably the only aspect that felt lacking in scope but it plays out fine in the end.

I'm looking forward to seeing what next film Viggo creates as they seem to be getting better so kudos to all the actors and Viggo for a great job and enjoyable film and loved the multiple languages which is rare in a western film as few people actually spoke English as a primary language so that was refreshing.

7 stars.
0 out of 1 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
10/10
Beautifully genuine
christina-delimitrou5 October 2023
I had really enjoyed "Falling" as well, Viggo Mortensen's directorial debut, but this film is a step up. It admittedly does not target as heavy a subject as his previous film, but it is written, directed, and acted (by the whole cast, especially the leading actors) beautifully. The cinematography and music are really thoughtfully put together as well, and do a good job capturing the 19th century look, without coming across as contrived. Glad to see Viggo going from strength to strength. I hope the film is recognized for the great work it is. Fun to get a glimpse of Anduril as well :) Highly recommended.
26 out of 32 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
7/10
Nice Little Western
stevendbeard1 June 2024
Warning: Spoilers
I saw The Dead Don't Hurt, starring Vicky Krieps-Old, The Girl in the Spider's Web; Viggo Mortensen-Captain Fantastic, Eastern Promises; Solly McLeod-Jericho Ridge, Boy in the Corner and Garret Dillahunt-Fear the Walking Dead_tv, No Country For Old Men.

This is a western that takes place in the 1860's during the Civil War. It is written, directed and stars Viggo Mortensen. I think he composed the music, too. Viggo plays a Danish immigrant that falls in love with Vicky, a French immigrant, shortly after both of them arrive in the US. After a short courtship, they move in together in a cabin on the outskirts of a little town that is run by Garret and his bullying son, Solly. Solly likes to let people know that he is in charge and can do whatever he wants, without any consequences. When Viggo goes off to fight in the Civil War, he is gone longer than expected and returns to find things have changed, including Vicky giving birth to a little boy, who may or may not be his.

It's rated R for violence, language and sexual content-including partial nudity-and has a running time of 2 hours & 9 minutes.

It's a nice little western and a good one to stream.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
"There are moments we return to in time."
Blue-Grotto3 December 2023
Vivienne and Holger enjoy silences together and recognize in each other kindred souls. He is a carpenter and she is a fiercely independent flower seller and gardener. They support one another even though they do not always agree with what the other does. They get along so well with a mixture of humor, straightforwardness, and erotic pleasure. Settling in the wilderness of Nevada they enjoy life tending gardens, building homes, and swimming nude beneath waterfalls. This is until the Civil War starts and Holger enlists. Vivienne, alone, can stand up for herself better than most, but being left with a violent spoiled son of a rich rancher may be more than she can handle.

"There are moments we return to in time," said director, composer, writer, and lead actor Viggo Mortensen at the Toronto International Film Festival. He said that his mother was inspiration for this "feminist western." Little Viggo was fascinated by the stories and music of the movies his mom took him to. He didn't intend to take the lead part, but when the man originally hired to take the role stepped out, Viggo took the opportunity. Vicky Krieps (Vivienne) told him to take the part.

This compelling and cute western romance concentrates on select moments of the couple's relationship and jumps back and forth in time. While The Dead Don't Hurt seems rushed at times, I really enjoyed the story, the experienced actors, and the dreamy romance between two lovable characters. The filmmakers even got the birdsongs right (cactus wrens, native to Nevada, warble in the background).
21 out of 29 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
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.
4 out of 5 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
9/10
Sentimentality on the Nevada frontier
nek20151 June 2024
Warning: Spoilers
This film was a pleasant if tearful surprise. It tells the story of two immigrants; Quebecois woman Vivienne le Coudy and Danish man Holger Olsen, as they fall in love from first meeting in San Francisco to their life together in what is now Nevada. Be warned if you are looking for fairy tale ending, you will not find it here as it begins with the death from illness and burial of Vivienne as she leaves behind her lover and her young son before jumping back and forth in time to tell her and Holger's stories. In many ways the two complement each other; both are headstrong and independent Vivienne from a life of hardship growing up in rural Quebec alone with her mother after her father is killed fighting for the Patriote movement, Holger from his combat experience in the 1848 revolutions. But it's these backgrounds that nearly drive a wedge between Vivienne and Holger when the latter decides to enlist in the Union Army in the name of Abolition as many 48ers did. While we never see Holger's time with the Union Army, his service ends up not being what he thought it would leaving him as disillusioned as he was after the '48 rebellions. Meanwhile Vivienne suffers far worse to the point she nearly considers leaving.

Despite all this they help put each other back together and continue to give the other reason to live. All of Vivienne and Holger's interactions throughout are tender and loving from their first meeting to Vivienne's last breath. And their love for each other continues on with their love for their son. Life was never easy for either but together they were able to bear it just a little more. To call this a western badly mischaracterizes the film, it is a love story first and foremost and a damn good one.
0 out of 0 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
5/10
Viggo stay in acting
vbertsekas17 May 2024
Viggo please you are such a great actor. Stay there and let writers write a story and directors direct it.

Very slow, boring with a lot of back and forth in time to explain what is happening. I found it confusing in the beginning but then it started making sense. No tempo, no rhythm in the story and the direction.

A very irrational decision of Viggo, the main character, a decision that made no sense at all provided the fuel for the story. Even acting was not great.

One of the few plus of the film is its cinematography. There are some nice shots of the landscape that add to the atmosphere of the film.

Overall, it was painful to watch and I feel that I have lost 2 hours of my life!
6 out of 13 found this helpful. Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink

See also

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews


Recently Viewed