Strange way of life, review of the short film by Pedro Almodòvar: gossip, passion and distinctiveness

The review of Strange way of life by Pedro Almodòvar, a short western presented at Cannes 76, starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal in the role of two cowboys who secretly love each other.

The sound of a trotting horse’s hooves, the dust rising on the dry ground, an emerald green jacket: if it weren’t for that bright color, which stands out from everything else, and the close-up of a beautiful boy singing a fado by Amália Rodrigues, it would seem like a western like many others. Instead, thanks to these two elements – and also to the font used for the opening credits – we immediately understand that we are in the presence of a work by Pedro Almodóvar. After The Human Voice starring Tilda Swinton, another short shot in English, the Spanish director returns to work in a language that is not his own and in a short playing time. Not even on purpose, just like the story of its main characters, the review by Strange way of life she suffered.

As reported in the report of the meeting with Almodóvar and the actor Ethan Hawke a Cannes 76, the festival, to put it mildly, did not do well with the press. Due to the dust raised on the Croisette, the press office has therefore decided to add not one, but two extra screenings of Strange way of life compared to the only one scheduled. This time we finally managed to see the short and we can finally talk about it, waiting for it to arrive in Italy on the MUBI streaming platform.

Produced by The desirethe production company of the Almodóvar brothers, in collaboration with the fashion house Saint Laurent directed by Anthony Vaccarello, the short could seem like a simple commercial for falsely casual and actually very expensive men’s clothes. It certainly is, but, in the hands of a director like the author of All about my mother, these 30 minutes also become a suggestive story, with two apparently rough and solitary men at the centre, who are actually looking for pleasure and tenderness. Strange way of life in fact, it tells of the passion, kept secret for 25 years, between Jake (Hawke), sheriff of Bitter Creek, and Silva (Peter Pascal), ranchero with whom he worked as a mercenary as a young man.

Strange way of life: than Hawke e Pedro Pascal coppia incandescente

The man in the green jacket who comes trotting to Bitter Creek it’s Silva: the country is literally called “bitter river” and indeed a river of resentment flows between him and Sheriff Jake. The two have not seen each other for 25 years, when young people sent on a mission to Mexico discovered an irresistible mutual attraction. However, those months of passion were not followed by a lasting relationship, as Silva would have liked, who had imagined a life together on a ranch for them. Jake became a lawman, Silva had a son. Just the boy is accused of murder: the sheriff is in fact on his trail.

It is therefore no coincidence that Silva has decided to show up after all this time. Despite the conflict that separates them, the two rediscover the same strong desire of the past. Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal have palpable chemistry, with the former called upon to be the more cold and reluctant of the two. Pascal, on the other hand, shows off all of his sunny sensuality: it is he who speaks openly about body fluids, pleasure and who borrows the other’s underwear.

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Although in his long career Almodóvar has never spared himself when it comes to sexually explicit scenes, here he decides to represent passion with words and suggestion rather than through the naked bodies of his actors. And it works: with that fade to black right at the moment of the act, he lets us imagine the whole explosion of a joy postponed and denied for years, which finally finds a way to flourish.

The flashback with the two young protagonists, played by Jason Fernandez e Jose Countesswhile they drink the wine that gushes from huge barrels, it is then “almodóvarian” a thousand per cent. A small insert that bends the genre in which it is contained, the western, to the Spanish director’s colorful and queer vision of the world. The only regret of these 30 minutes of great class, beautifully shot and acted, is that they end just when the most interesting part is about to start Most likely it will never happen, but it would be great to see the feature film of this story, not at all strange and very attractive.