Vicky Krieps as Vivienne in Viggo Mortensen’s epic Western love story

THE DEAD DON’T HURT
Directed by Viggo Mortensen
Certificate: 15
☆☆☆☆☆

THE political context for this instant classic of a Western cannot be ignored.

It features a dodgy businessman who lets his awful son run amok while demonising those who have travelled to the USA to make a new life.

The son (Solly McLeod) is a rapist. Whether writer, actor and director Viggo Mortensen was aiming this at a former president as we approach the November election or not, you cannot help but feel his character represents everything positive about America, while the bad guys represent the odd, evangelical/neo-fascist state that Donald Trump is the figurehead for.

The story jumps chronologically, and it is a trick that helps with context and keeps you guessing. It has a sense of the grand vistas in John Steinbeck’s East of Eden.

We meet Olger Olsen (Mortensen), a Danish émigré who served in a European war and is forging a life away from heartache and violence in the old world. He meets and falls for Vivienne (Vicky Krieps). We learn Vivienne’s father was killed by Red Coats in Canada, and was raised by her French mother with Joan of Arc as a hero.

From this simple premise – a couple and their son, scratching sustenance from an arid and spectacular landscape – comes an epic love story.

As ever, the love of money is the root of all evil, and the classic Western baddies consist of a family who own everything in the one-saloon town.

They see gold in them-thar hills, and with a crooked mayor in on the act, Olsen and Vivienne’s search for a quiet life has landed them in a county which is anything but.

When Northern troops pass by looking for volunteers to fight slavery, Olsen signs up. It’s a decision that will impact his family forever.

Mortensen, with a pair of blue eyes staring out from beneath his 10-gallon hat, has the air of Paul Newman, while Krieps is heartbreakingly effective.

This is beautiful story-telling, with a romance at its heart, and asks questions about responsibility towards others.

Above all, the crunch of the hoof, the sweaty bandanas, the creaky saddles, the pop of a rifle, the never-ending skies and the stunning scenery make this an aesthetic joy.

Mortensen, composed the soundtrack. A sound board full of mourning violins and plinky-plonk piano shows he understands the genre perfectly.