USA/Mexico/UK • Drama/Western • Year: 2023 • Running time: 129 mins
Languages: English • Spanish • French • Danish
Synopsis:
Mortenson stars, writes and directs in a gripping and scenic take on The Western. And a fine performance
from Vicky Krieps of Corsage fame – Two pioneers fight for their lives and their love on the American frontier during the Civil War.
A Western that hits many of the expected beats but which does so in an unexpected manner, being centred on a tender, loving relationship rather than gunplay and grit.
Dan Jolin: Empire Magazine
Director: Viggo Mortensen
Falling (2020)
Writer: Viggo Mortensen
Main Cast:
| Vicky Krieps | Vivienne de Coudy |
| Viggo Mortensen | Holgar Olsen |
| Solly McLeod | Weston Jeffries |
(for full cast list, additional technical information and reviews, please visit the Dead Don’t Hurt pages in IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes).
Film Notes:
Viggo Mortenson’s second feature as director harks back to the revisionist Westerns of the 1970s in both themes and style. Some critics have seen affinities also with Kelly Reichardt’s Meek’s Cutoff (2010). He also stars as a Danish pioneer, Rudolph, trying to make a life for himself and his partner Vivienne (Vicky Krieps – remember her from our screening of Corsage?) in the American frontier during the start of the Civil War (1861-65). Both are outsiders and their relationship develops from this sense of not quite fitting into the new terrain, as exemplified by the choice of where Rudoph elects to build his cabin. However, greed and war will take its toll on their fragile happiness.
If you, like me, long for the day when Westerns will grace our cinema more, then this is a real treat and one of the highlights of 2024 (along with Kevin Costner’s much maligned Horizon which, like this film, struggled to find an audience). Here, the scenery is breathtaking, the acting excellent and Mortensen proves to be as talented a director as he is an actor. The film is languid and unhurried, as the running time suggests, but then, when we have fast-paced blockbusters in every cinema, a slow-burn, high quality, well-paced film is always welcome.
Emma Rees