Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal are former and current lovers in the short film Strange way of lifea western signed by Pedro Almodóvar.
Co-produced by Saint Laurent Productions, the fashion house’s cultural arm, and El Deseo, the Almodóvar brothers’ company, Strange Way of Living lasted 32 minutes and was presented at the Cannes Film Festival last May.
After filming where Sergio Leone filmed his trilogy with Clint Eastwood, Pedro Almodóvar uses the codes of the Western to make them his own. The lone driver coming into town? Yes, it’s Silva (Pedro Pascal). The single sheriff who wants to arrest his sister-in-law’s murderer? Yes, it’s Jake (Ethan Hawke).
What makes matters worse is that the two men haven’t seen each other for 25 years, but they know each other well. Intimate, ever since they were lovers, in a moment that Jake would describe as a “moment of madness.” But madness takes over and with the help of wine, the two men succumb to a new moment of passion… before Jake asks himself questions.
First of all, this “Strange Way of Living” is an exercise in style and not without charm. Pedro Almodóvar has fun, but without his usual humor, playing with the typical iconography of cowboy films and giving the desired relief to the symbolism of the pistols, the duel in full sun, the blood and the care that Silva will show Jake.
Yes, at 32 minutes, this short film is a bit… short. But was there room for more?
Strange Way of Living is presented in cinemas with The Human Voice, the short film made by Pedro Almodóvar in 2020 with Tilda Swinton. The two films will be shown in the original English version with French subtitles at the Cinémathèque québécoise, the Cinéma du Parc, the Cinéma Beaubien, the Cinéma du Musée and the Cinéma Le Clap Sainte-Foy from October 20th.
Rating: 3 out of 5