Actor Viggo Mortensen has traded in the world of fantasy for the gritty frontier in a movie that shows Westerns are back in style.
The “Lord of the Rings” star wrote, directed and stars in his new film, “The Dead Don’t Hurt,” which People sums up as an “1860s-set tale of star-crossed lovers, corrupt lawmen, violent outlaws and revenge.”
The film builds on the success of the Western series “Yellowstone” and Kevin Costner’s decision to launch a four-film saga called “Horizon: An American Saga,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Costner will serve as co-writer, director and star of all four movies in the saga.
Mortensen said his movie, which stars Vicky Krieps in the lead role, is a “dramatic and emotionally engaging story about a uniquely independent woman on the western frontier, and her relationship to the headstrong man she chooses to share her life with,” according to People.
“My hope is that audiences will feel they are stepping back in time to the wild landscapes and lawless society of the Far West in the 1860s, and that they’ll be entertained by a movie in the tradition of the best classic Westerns,” he said.
In the film, Krieps plays Vivienne Le Coudy while Mortensen plays Holger Olsen, a Danish immigrant in Nevada who goes to fight the Civil War, leaving Vivienne to deal with what the film’s synopsis calls “an unforgiving world dominated by ruthless men.”
“Both a tragic love story and a nuanced depiction of the conflict between revenge and forgiveness, ‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’ is a portrait of a passionate woman determined to stand up for herself,” the synopsis said.
Mortensen says he started writing the film in 2020 during the pandemic.
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“The first image that came to me was of a young girl playing alone in a forest and dreaming about the adventures she might have in her life,” he says.
“That girl was inspired by what I know of my mother’s childhood experiences and dreams, and the landscapes she grew up in. As I continued to construct the story it became one about a proud, free-thinking woman,” he said.
He said Krieps brought the role to life.
“I’ve never sensed a false moment, an untruthful or superficial line reading or gesture in any role I’ve seen her play. Her performance turned out to be even more layered and moving than I’d hoped it might be,” he said.
The film is designed to be accurate, he said.
“Knowing how to ride and be around horses from an early age helped me in accurately representing everyday life on the western frontier,” he said.
“There are always surprises during shooting, however, no matter how well you prepare as a team,” he continues, calling the movie “a long and arduous journey from start to finish.”
The film hits theaters May 31.
In a review for Deadline, Pete Hammond noted, ‘The western genre has been so pervasive throughout the entire history of the movies, and it is hard to imagine doing anything in it that hasn’t already been done.”
“Viggo Mortensen, in writing, directing, producing and co-starring in only his second film behind the camera (after 2020’s Falling) finds a moving, if tragic, love story to play against the stunning landscape of the circa-1860s West, and somehow it all feels new. John Ford and Howard Hawks would love this movie,” he wrote.
