TIFF: Viggo Mortensen’s ‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’

By Abe Friedtanzer 

Courtesy of TIFF

Western films tend to deal with violence in some capacity, presenting a world either defined by lawlessness or exploring what it means to set up a system of law and order to ensure that it isn't. When everyone has a gun and collecting bounties is a popular pastime, it can be difficult to instill a sense of moral consequences in a society that may not be interested in it. The Dead Don’t Hurt weaves a love story into a portrait of a town on the edge of becoming modern. A bleak view of humanity emerges... 

Viggo Mortensen’s second directorial effort marks a distinct departure from his first, Falling, moving away from a modern-day father-son relationship to a look at two outliers in 1860s Nevada. Holler Olsen (Mortensen) and Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) are both immigrants, from Denmark and Canada respectively, but when they meet they introduce themselves as American. An idyllic start by the harbor in San Francisco leads to a lonely existence in a small house in an even smaller town in Nevada, where Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garret Dillahunt) have undue sway over all that happens, which involves covering for the uncontrollable actions of Jeffries’ son Weston (Solly McLeod). Olsen’s departure to enlist and fight in the Civil War leaves Vivienne alone to fend for herself. 

The Dead Don’t Hurt is presented in a non-linear fashion, with no markers whatsoever to help audiences identify where in the story we are aside from the length and color of Olsen’s facial hair. At the beginning of the movie Vivienne dies, and the town is shaken by a mass murder where it seems the wrong man has been convicted. While those two things do occur around the same time, it’s easy to lose the thread of the narrative and particularly the precise moment for any given scene. But, to be fair, knowing the fate of the characters isn’t a detriment, since it allows for unexpected exploration of characters the audience may have written off. It also signifies the cyclical nature of life; some endings are indeed just beginnings of someone else’s story.

Embedded in this familiar Western (apart from the timeline) is a story of two people who could probably exist in another time. There’s humor to be found in their interactions, particularly from the dependable Krieps, who was feted by TIFF this year with a tribute award and who brings a boldness and immutability to Vivienne that makes her feel like a true and welcome anachronism. Meanwhile McLeod delivers a perfectly chilling performance as someone who understands just how little anyone can do to stand in his way. Aside from its creative timeine this is a standard and serviceable Western that will likely be of most appeal to preexisting fans of the genre.

The Dead Don’t Hurt is screening as a world premiere in the Special Presentation section at TIFF.