THE DEAD DON'T HURT - Mark Reviews Movies

The Dead Don't Hurt, Shout! Studios

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Review by Mark Dujsik | May 31, 2024

Whose story is this? Writer/director Viggo Mortensen's sophomore film constantly wrestles with that question, although it's to the benefit of The Dead Don't Hurt. At first, it seems to be the tale of Holger Olsen (Mortensen), a small-town Sheriff in the Old West, who watches as his beloved dies in just the second shot of the film. What will he do now?

Mortensen's screenplay knows the answer to that question is both obvious and the stuff of countless Westerns before his, and indeed, the entire arc of the story of this particular character has been covered in various examples of the genre since its inception. Do we really need to see yet another strong and silent hero of the West, as he stakes his claim and goes off to war and keeps the peace in an isolated frontier town, filled with corrupt locals and visiting outlaws?

That's not to say Mortensen isn't exactly the right type for this sort of role. He definitely is, and the actor's presence here alone serves as a reminder of all the decent and righteous Western heroes who have come before his Olsen, who prefers just to go by his surname for all the odd looks he receives whenever somebody learns his given name. His performance exists for us to fill in all of the blanks of the narrative—a veteran of one war, a haunted widower, someone who respects others and expects the same in return, a man of unshakeable values and principles whose actions speak because he doesn't have too much to say.

This isn't really Olsen's story, as it turns out. No, it belongs to the woman who dies right at the start of the back-and-forth narrative. She's Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps), the woman whose loss sets Olsen on a journey farther west with the couple's son.

Does he have a goal or a destination? It's difficult to tell initially, although revenge, as unlikely as it seems at first based on the non-violent circumstances of Vivienne's death, seems to be the most apparent option. After watching him and his son Vincent (Atlas Green) wander the landscape for a while, it seems just as likely that Olsen has left his quiet, idyllic cabin in a valley because, without Vivienne, it's no longer a home to him.

That makes this story a bit of mystery—and a tantalizing one at that. What is Olsen's aim? Does it have to do with the murders of six people in the town where he was Sheriff, or is there an ulterior motive for him to appear to be tracking Weston Jeffries (Solly McLeod), the murderer who gets away with his crimes and sends an innocent man to be hanged in his place because of his connections?

Along the way to figuring out what might be going on here via flashbacks, Mortensen's screenplay pulls a clever, thoughtful trick on us. After all, we know or can determine most of Olsen's story as soon as the character appears on screen. There's someone else here who represents stories that often go untold, existing in the background as a motive or a reward for the type of hero Olsen is and the long history of similar protagonists he represents. Doesn't Vivienne, who has to be tough and resilient while Olsen is off on his adventures, deserve to be seen and heard, too?

This film, then, decidedly becomes Vivienne's story, following her from her childhood in Canada, through her battles to remain independent while also wanting to be with Olsen, into the long stretch of time she spends alone on the frontier while Olsen is off-screen fighting a good fight, and, finally, to being the one person who can show him what's worth living for, instead of going off to fight yet again. Most Westerns ignore or only provide a passing interest in a character like Vivienne. This one, for the most part, decides to live alongside her, and it's distinctly compelling, also for the most part, as a result.

We learn a good amount about Vivienne, starting with her fascination with Joan of Arc as child, leading her to dream of a French knight whose identity beneath the helmet evolves over time (She much later explains that the fantasy has nothing to do with someone saving her), and the death of her father at the hands of British soldiers. She meets Olsen, who has come on a journey to see "the end of the world," while living in San Francisco, and the two kindred spirits connect instantly. As time passes, their romance feels genuine, built on mutual respect and how they provide each other tenderness after their difficult pasts.

Eventually, Olsen decides to join the war against slavery, leaving Vivienne to hold down the homestead, deal with the changing interests of the nearby town (Danny Huston plays the mayor, and Garrett Dillahunt plays an ambitious entrepreneur and Weston's father, while a solid collection of character actors fill out some brief roles), and stand up to Weston, a most sinister villain, played with unsettling calm by McLeod. We know what happens here will come to define Olsen upon his inevitable return, but in the moment, the narrative exclusively belongs to Vivienne and how she endures, as well as rises above, these hard times.

Krieps is a sturdy force of steadfastness in this role, ensuring that Olsen's absence from the story is neither missed nor mistaken as some kind of oversight. It's the whole point of The Dead Don't Hurt, which flips the narrative perspective of a Western in such a novel way that the film's return to formula in the third act feels like a minor but forgivable betrayal.

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