Strange Way of Life 2023

Strange-Way-of-Life
Strange Way of Life

There is a reason why a writer/director with such a big penchant for heightened emotion like above loves the Western. It can controversially be said that this genre relies on stoic masculinity that is drastically different from the do it all approach of Pedro Almodóvar, but it is precisely the opposite. The genre is packed with a lot of suppressed shows and intrigues. Intimidating whispers, gasping exclamations, and passionate closeups – Almodóvar walks in here (although, he is such a remarkable artist, it would not be ridiculous to say that he walks in anywhere). And when one takes into account that Almodóvar’s name was at one point associated with “Brokeback Mountain,” the existence of “Strange Way of Life” makes more sense. His words were, and I quote, “I was captivated by the physicality of Annie’s Proulx novel, but felt I could never do it justice in a Hollywood production,” and “the Oscar winning film was ineffective in getting that part of the story across,” and while he greatly admires Ang Lee, he makes no bones about it. He has called his own two hander Western “Strange Way of Life” an “answer” to that film, and it’s a pretty good one.

I do not want to provide too much information, but I must say that the last scene of this 31 minute film works incredibly hard it highlights the subject very well. It is the story of a man who, no matter how hard he tries, cannot seem to picture himself sharing a life with another man, even if he is his soulmate. Almodóvar hasn’t surprised us so far as “Strange Way Of Life” is concerned. Sure enough, he feels this is the first act of a much richer and wider feature film, which would explain the latent incredulity. Regardless, the shortness of this one is something to marvel at, that is to say, it feels as though this is one part of a massive compilation.

There is not much of any record detailing how this fictional element begins and what it concerns. It is extremely likely that this segment starts 25 years prior to when Silva (Pedro Pascal) rides on his horse back into the town where Jake, now a sheriff, played by Ethan Hawke, lives. The moment they embrace, it seems that there is an emotional sore regarding the lives these two very opposite persons once occupied together. Even while Silva is open and vulnerable, Jake seems to be gaunt and bitter about life. It is as if Silva taking off from Jake’s life took away all chances of happiness for Jake. The revelation made by Silva includes facts from the past where Silva and Jake were involved on a deeper level, however, it becomes evident that Silva is not simply here to rekindle the affair. Silva’s son, Joe, played by George Sterane, is in need of a safe shelter as jerked Sheriff Jake is now in search of him for murder. This leads to an unavoidable question of priority for Jake where he might need to choose arresting the wanted Joe or compromising his own contentment for a single lifetime. What does happen in the end leads to the dilemma posed by Silva before where the question is posed whether he is sleeping with a gay because he prefers to avoid prison for Joe.

One important fact to understand Strange Way of Life is that it was produced by Saint Laurent Productions. Given that this segment portrayal of a flashback where a younger Joe and Silva spilling wine and getting nasty under barrels does resemble some advertisement of fashion besides a movie.

Nevertheless, Pascal and Hawke temper the vivid hues that one would associate with ‘Almodóvar and Saint Laurent.” They fringe the short by giving an appropriately sullen performance from Hawke and a tender one from Pascal. Also, there is a rich lineage for Almodóvar to draw from which includes his regular collaborators such as the brace José Luis Alaine (‘Volver,’ ‘The Skin I Live In’), whose sumptuous cinematography and a stunning score by another regular, the great Alberto Iglesias, set a lofty standard. 

“Strange Way of Life” is expected to have a limited release during the same period as Almodóvar’s 2020 short film ‘The Human Voice,’ which featured Tilda Swinton. This perhaps was Almodóvar’s first English language project and one can say that he has been warming up to the idea of a full English feature ever since ‘The Human Voice’ followed by ‘Strange Way of Life.’ Almodóvar has been a great for a few generations now and has reached a point where everything he does is worth watching. No matter the language, genre or the run time, Almodóvar breathes life into cinema.

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