The Dead Don't Hurt: Black Hats and Grey Morals in Viggo Mortensen's Western Revenge Tale
By John Kirk
Rating: A
The Wild West wasn’t about heroism or the romantic notion of the cavalry to the rescue. It was harsh and tough, and that’s the simple takeaway from Viggo Mortensen’s Western epic The Dead Don’t Hurt.. Mortensen’s second directorial effort was last seen in these parts at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The story: when Holger Olsen (Mortensen) meets Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps), the two decide to make a life for themselves in the desolate Nevada town of Elk Flats in 1860’s frontier America. When Holder answers the call to fight for the Union in the Civil War, he leaves his new bride alone and vulnerable to the unwelcome advances of a corrupt town magnate. When Holger returns from the war, they have to face each other and the consequences of their choices.
One could argue a comparison to Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992). That film deconstructed the romantic notion of a Wild West, with gunfights and desperate men fighting to uphold the right in a savage land. The myths are debunked when a man shows up out of nowhere, with whiskey on his breath and a shotgun in his hand to assassinate another with a price on his head. There is no celebration of the skill to kill a man.It’s just money to survive.
Similarly, The Dead Don’t Hurt is a revenge story, but not a romanticized one. Back in the days of the Western pioneers, revenge didn’t present itself as drama. It was simply a common result of the way people lived their lives. Violence was often met with more violence in a Darwinian struggle to eke out an existence.
At times in The Dead Don’t Hurt, this existence may seem bland, with characters engaging in banal activities like trying to grow a flower garden in the desert or learning another language.
But then comes the realization that this is added verisimilitude representing the pace of things. In this world, a bottle of whiskey was not a luxury but a way to pass the hours.
Mortensen’s Holger Olsen is a quiet, thoughtful and determined man who faces these times with a resolve that would put us in the 21st Century to shame. Given what Olsen has endured and what he goes on to endure, it’s a wonder that people survived. But this gritty realism is probably the film’s greatest strength and attraction for the audience’s attention. Original-Cin talked with Mortensen about this attention to historical detail. You can read about it HERE..
The realistic detail and authenticity in this film stands out. Not just in scenery or props, but in the era-appropriate dialogue. Formal conversation has rules that are apparent in the discourse between the characters and even not speaking is a language to itself. It’s a historically fascinating character study in behaviour. Danny Huston’s performance as the relatively learned Mayor Rudolph Schiller stands out as an example of this.
People were broken in this harsh frontier world, economically, socially, and physically, by the baser nature of humanity that we see in The Dead Don’t Hurt.
Holger’s wife, Vivienne (Krieps) is one of these people. She’s a valiant spirit with resolve. Filled with purpose and vision for how to survive with Holger, she is vibrant in this barren town and the center of tragedy. Krieps immediately wins the audience over with her strength and we feel for her when her husband makes the decision to leave to fight for what he thinks is right.
Vivienne needs to make a living, survive the lascivious advances of a corrupt scion and wait for her husband to return home. Krieps’ Vivienne is a spectacular performance and a credit to the casting. She is the shining star in this film.
Faced with a choice that would be difficult to rationalize in this century, Vivienne persists. She is left alone by her partner to navigate her harsh environs. The reason? A paltry hundred-dollar bounty for her husband to sign up for the Union Army. Even if there is a moral imperative to fight against slavery, the idea of placing one’s ideals over someone you love, and abandoning them, is something that’s hard to reconcile today. But back then, survival came at a cost.
Watching this film is a lesson in history. It’s detailed, accurate and meticulous in its presentation of a human drama that realistically could have happened. When you hear about Viggo’s attention to history, this is a western story that becomes and grittier and accurate look into the past and a lesson in history.
Good taste in hats too.
The Dead Don’t Hurt. Written and directed by Viggo Mortensen. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Vicky Krieps, Solly McLeod, Garret Dillahunt, Danny Huston and Tom Bateman. Available on VOD, AppleTV, Amazon, GooglePlay, YouTube, Microsoft, Bell Media, and other digital platforms in Canada on Tuesday, July 16.