Pedro Pascal, the Chilean-American actor and internet daddy, is making his next appearance after HBOs The last of us and season 3 of The Mandalorian in a very different, but still delicious project. Pascal stars with Ethan Hawke in a queer Western short film written and directed by Spanish master Pedro Almodóvar, premiering next month at the Cannes Film Festival.
Strange way of life is about a farmer (Pascal) who visits his old friend Sheriff Jake (Hawke); 25 years earlier, the duo had teamed up as mercenaries. But the couple’s reunion seems to reveal a passionate secret.
“The strange way of life referred to in the title refers to the famous fado [mournful Portuguese song] by Amalia Rodrigues, whose lyrics suggest that there is no stranger existence than that lived by turning your back on your own desires,” Almodóvar says in press materials for the film.
The themes of the short are pretty clear from the trailer, too: in one shot, Hawke approaches to kiss Pascal’s neck, and elsewhere Pascal says in voiceover, “Years ago you asked me what two men could do, live together on a farm I will answer you now.”
The Western genre is new to Almodóvar, although he’s always been heavily influenced by vintage Hollywood melodramas, which seems to be the mode this new movie is in. Judging by the trailer, it’s also shot in his signature style, with dazzling costumes. and set decoration, classic shot composition and performances of controlled passion.
Strange way of life is only Almodóvar’s second work in English, after the 2020 short film starring Tilda Swinton The human voice. The director of Women on the verge of a nervous breakdown And All about my mother, known for his flamboyant farces and dramas, was courted by Hollywood in the late 1980s, but the great director Billy Wilder warned him, and instead devoted his life to making films in Spain. (Strange way of life was shot in Spain by Almodóvar’s own production company, El Deseo.)
So why English now, and why a short film? The clue is that Strange way of life was co-produced by the Saint Laurent fashion label, whose chief designer, Anthony Vaccarello, designed the costumes. The worlds of haute couture and arthouse cinema love to mingle, and Saint Laurent has previously funded this kind of mix of author indulgence and lengthy advertising. For directors, it’s an easy way to get funding to make something different to take to the festivals.
The problem is that short films are not always easy to watch, but Almodóvar’s fame made sure of that The human voice finally came to streaming on Mubi. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Strange way of life country there too, or somewhere else.