The Dead Don't Hurt

Overall it is not a waste of time, nice Sunday afternoon movie. Beautiful photography. But let's talk about the flaws. Sometimes it gets boring and confusing, you need to take guesses, just like Horizon, I watched both one after the other and the funny thing is that I liked this one more. The worst part for me was the character Vicky, which is a feminist even thought there wasn't such thing back then, she is constantly throwing feminist quotes but at the same time acting like old school wife, makes no sense. I don't need men, meets a guy and goes living with him I don't need men, waits for the husband to come back from war. Everything she says needs to be a bout her being a strong female character but the story shows the opposite. Viggo should have released this movie five years ago when people weren't tired of this nonsense.

If it weren't for this important turn of events... the film would have turned out great. It is unbearable to watch such scenes and such people. As for the film itself, up to the third act it is a clever, mature and believable melodrama, and it should be noted that it is magnificent. There are not many events in the film, but everything looks real, as in life, without ostentatious exaggeration. I enjoyed the simplicity and sincerity of what was happening and the amazing acting. The film is sad, although the characters' relationships are filled with emotions, however, in my opinion, they remain undisclosed, as if there is not enough depth of feelings. The final sadness and the silent son ... the film simultaneously gives beauty and leaves a feeling of disappointment due to sadness and understatement.

This film was a pleasant if tearful surprise. It tells the story of two immigrants; Quebecois woman Vivienne le Coudy and Danish man Holger Olsen, as they fall in love from first meeting in San Francisco to their life together in what is now Nevada. Be warned if you are looking for fairy tale ending, you will not find it here as it begins with the death from illness and burial of Vivienne as she leaves behind her lover and her young son before jumping back and forth in time to tell her and Holger's stories. In many ways the two complement each other; both are headstrong and independent Vivienne from a life of hardship growing up in rural Quebec alone with her mother after her father is killed fighting for the Patriote movement, Holger from his combat experience in the 1848 revolutions. But it's these backgrounds that nearly drive a wedge between Vivienne and Holger when the latter decides to enlist in the Union Army in the name of Abolition as many 48ers did. While we never see Holger's time with the Union Army, his service ends up not being what he thought it would leaving him as disillusioned as he was after the '48 rebellions. Meanwhile Vivienne suffers far worse to the point she nearly considers leaving. Despite all this they help put each other back together and continue to give the other reason to live. All of Vivienne and Holger's interactions throughout are tender and loving from their first meeting to Vivienne's last breath. And their love for each other continues on with their love for their son. Life was never easy for either but together they were able to bear it just a little more. To call this a western badly mischaracterizes the film, it is a love story first and foremost and a damn good one.