The Dead Don't Hurt

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The Dead Don't Hurt

The Dead Don’t Hurt is a story of star-crossed lovers on the western U.S. frontier in the 1860s. Vivienne Le Coudy (Vicky Krieps) is a fiercely independent woman who embarks on a relationship with Danish immigrant Holger Olsen (Viggo Mortensen). After meeting Olsen in San Francisco, she agrees to travel with him to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada, where they start a life together. The outbreak of the civil war separates them when Olsen makes a fateful decision to fight for the Union. This leaves Vivienne to fend for herself in a place controlled by corrupt Mayor Rudolph Schiller (Danny Huston) and his unscrupulous business partner, powerful rancher Alfred Jeffries (Garrett Dillahunt). Alfred’s violent, wayward son Weston (Solly McLeod) aggressively pursues Vivienne, who is determined to resist his unwanted advances. When Olsen returns from the war, he and Vivienne must confront and make peace with the person each has become. Both a tragic love story and a nuanced depiction of the conflict between revenge and forgiveness, the film is a portrait of a passionate woman determined to stand up for herself in an unforgiving world dominated by ruthless men.

"A picture rendered with grace, patience, and artistry."
Jason Bailey, The Playlist
"It wouldn’t be a Western if it didn’t include some kind of showdown, and The Dead Don’t Hurt gives us one that is bloody and satisfying without being what you’d expect. Mortensen twists the tropes until the end."
Steve Pond, TheWrap

PAST EVENTS

Extended Introduction with Viggo Mortensen
Thursday, May. 30 2024, 8:30
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  • VIGGO MORTENSEN has earned acclaim for his acting work in a wide range of films. Some of these include Thirteen LivesCrimes of the FutureGreen Book, Captain FantasticEastern PromisesA History of ViolenceThe RoadAppaloosaFar From MenThe Two Faces of January, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He achieved notable praise for his directorial debut, Falling, which he also wrote and produced. He has received various nominations and awards from groups including; the Screen Actors Guild, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He is also a poet, photographer, painter, and is the editor and publisher of Perceval Press, an independent company he founded in 2002

*SOLD OUT* Q&A with Viggo Mortensen and Vicky Krieps, moderated by JBFC Board President Janet Maslin
Thursday, May. 30 2024, 7:00
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  • VIGGO MORTENSEN has earned acclaim for his acting work in a wide range of films and is the director of The Dead Don't Hurt.
  • VICKY KRIEPS had her international breakout role opposite Daniel Day Lewis in Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece about the couturier Reynolds Woodcock set in 1950s London. Krieps has just finished principal photography on Hot Milk, the much anticipated feature film based on the critically acclaimed novel by Deborah Levy. Further credits include Mia Hansen - Løve’s drama Bergman Island opposite Tim Roth; Mathieu Amalric’s Moi Fort (Hold Me Tight); Barry Levinson’s The Survivor; M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Old; Netflix’s Beckett, opposite John David Washington, amongst others.


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