Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Writer: Pedro Almodóvar
Stars: Pedro Pascal, Ethan Hawke, George Steane
Synopsis: After twenty-five years Silva rides a horse across the desert to visit his friend Sheriff Jake. They celebrate the meeting, but the next morning Jake tells him that reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their friendship.
Beautiful garments and shots are all over Pedro Almodóvar’s most recent short film, Strange Way of Life. But he holds back on answering the tough questions from the complex relationship of its characters, which are brought to life via dedicated performances by Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke.
In 2020, Pedro Almodóvar blessed the world with a brilliant short film (which should have been nominated for the Oscar in its category and eventually won it) and his first English language project, the Tilda Swinton-led The Human Voice. The short seemed like a halfway point for the Spanish director’s most personal works to date, Pain and Glory and Parallel Mothers. These three projects made me think that after decades of providing influential and generational works for filmmakers across the world with his melodramas, he is heading for a more mature set of films that explore his own past (alongside his country’s history), as well as the human condition in a clearer note, one that demonstrated defined and sharper notes than what we have seen before. But his latest project, a Yves Saint-Laurent short of the Western genre, titled Strange Way of Life, doesn’t seem to depart from that recent trajectory.
Pictured through the lens of one of Spain’s most artistic auteurs in Pedror Almodóvar, Strange Way of Life is a story about lovers turned rivals who later connect after a series of unfortunate events. They were separated by their desire for something more in life. They meet once again, noticing that, even though they are currently living totally different personas, they still hold on to their memories together – lighting a candle that hasn’t burned in many years. We have seen similar stories like this. Most of them aren’t set in the Wild West. Most of these tales are told in modern settings, varying in their time of release. If one director tried their hand at reworking such to a time when outlaws and cowboys were running up and down the saloon, Almodóvar would be a proper fit, as he’s known for having not only a specific style to his films, which is highly present in this film (to a fault) but also handling his melodramatic affairs with dashes of complexity.
The main characters in Pedro Almodóvar’s latest short are Silva (Pedro Pascal) and Jake (Ethan Hawke), both appearing in dapper attire courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent. It has been almost three decades since they had their last emotional experience. And a lot has happened since then. They have similar lives with partners they hold dear and children to care for. Jake is a sheriff; he has his eyes on the bandits and runaways so that they don’t cause any trouble on his “turf”. Meanwhile, Silva has a more calm life in comparison; he’s a rancher in the hills. However, as expected, they will soon reconnect after a sticky situation that involves both of them occurs. Silva’s son, Joe (George Steane), has been accused of killing Jake’s sister-in-law. This creates a psychological and emotional debacle for both parties.
Their “reunion” is forged by a tragedy, yet it feels as if it was fate that gathered all of these people together. As the time comes for the two to see eye to eye after almost thirty years, a couple of questions pop into your head. What will Silva do to save his son from a gruesome fate? What will be Jake’s reaction to his appearance and Silva’s connection behind the death of his sister-in-law? A dinner, some red wine, and conversations about their past almost make Jake excuse Joe’s action. But he concludes that Silva uses such to keep his son safe. The pair’s relationship fractures even more, causing them to stand off against one another as the anger fuels their body, while on the inside, they still have feelings for one another.
From the luscious costumes and cinematography by frequent Almodóvar collaborator José Luis Alcaine, Strange Way of Life has a beautiful look. The Spanish filmmaker always has an eye for creating fabulous designs that pop because of the color palette and are lifted by the intimacy (and, in some occasions, eroticism) in the story. And with Yves Saint Laurent backing up the project, of course, you will have some fantastic cowboy looks that plenty of people would love to rock – although I don’t think they will pull it off like the film’s cast here. If there’s one specific factor that I can praise, it is that Almodóvar still has the gift to make his movies have a similar atmosphere and aura yet separate them from one another in his approach to each respective story. Not many directors have that ability; he remains one of the few who achieves it on a more consistent and gratifying basis.
However, unfortunately, the reason why this short film doesn’t work is because Almodóvar seems to be holding himself back and relying more on the aesthetic of this fashion design company-concocted Western. He doesn’t seem to be completely interested in answering those questions that linger in your head, leaving the complexity of his melodramatic directorial touches and opting for a more visual banquet. And, as I mentioned before, he nails it entirely on that aspect. But you aren’t given much to care about, as the intricate story beats of Silva and Jake’s relationship are too flimsy. On an emotional level, there’s nothing to hold on to. The thirty-minute runtime doesn’t do justice to this story’s potential.
Since this is a minor project compared to his other works, you won’t be getting all the details from their relationship. Yet, that doesn’t mean you have to leave out what makes these two people click – what ignited their hearts in the first place – mainly since the story relies on reuniting these two souls back, whether by chance or forced. After giving us The Human Voice and Parallel Mothers in this decade alone, two projects that are among his best to date, I thought he would continue his mature approach and keep delivering some self-analyzing and determined works. Strange Way of Life may be ambitious, but the restraint in its characters and story’s development keeps it from becoming something of greater value than its expensive garments.
