Review: Strange Way of Life (2023)

Strange Way of Life (Short Film)

Rating

Director

Pedro Almodóvar

Screenplay

Pedro Almodóvar

Length

31m

Starring

Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal, Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández, Sara Sálamo, Oihana Cueto, Daniela Medina

MPAA Rating

Review

Foreign cinema often gave queer topics and queer stories more nuanced representation than American cinema. Strange Way of Life is Pedro Almodóvar’s latest in queer cinema and while it’s a well worn story, the gay perspective is a fascinating twist.

Straight actors Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal play Sheriff Jake and Silva respectively, old friends who reconnect after the murder of Jake’s brother’s wife. After they spend the night together in bed, the accusations begin. Jake suspects Silva has ridden into town to save his son Joe (George Steane) who he believes is responsible for the murder. Silva accuses him of not prioritizing their relationship when they were together 25 years earlier and going off with him to start a life together in spite of living in a region where such affairs were forbidden.

While Brokeback Mountain is often jocularly referred to as a “gay cowboy movie,” Strange Way of Life is far more of one, taking place in an actual western setting with traditional western motifs and clichés. Were Silva female, you could even picture Gary Cooper having starred in it. This is the kind of film an adventurous John Ford or a subdued Sam Peckinpah might have made if not for the taboos of the era.

Almodóvar draws on the audience’s familiarity with the genre to paint his drama with minimal effort, allowing the once-controversial nature of the story shine through. The issue is that in this era his notions of homosexuality are a bit antiquated and while Pascal and Hawke do their best to embody those ideas with some emotional resonance, they can’t get past the clichés to get beyond the gender swap of the concept that became the Silva character. Hawke and Pascal, not being at all familiar with queer relationships make these characters feel a bit dull, stereotypical even. Pascal’s tenderness is more appealing than Hawke’s reservedness but neither exactly brings the characters to vibrant life like they should have.

There’s a scene about half way through that features younger versions of Jake and Silva (Jason Fernández and José Condessa) that puts the two in the basement of a vineyard where their supposed girlfriends wander off and the pair find carnal pleasure with each other instead. It’s the kind of scene that might have made censors in decades past slap it with a ban but feels positively tame now. While it isn’t one of the great sex scenes in cinema, it has a poetic beauty that titillates somewhat, which makes it the most successful element of the short itself.

Strange Way of Life is an odd title for a picture like this. It doesn’t fit the subject matter very well unless it treats queerness as “strange,” which would be insulting. While it has its moments, the short lacks that spark of life that makes queer cinema so enjoyable and when you’re no longer pushing envelopes, what is the point? Perhaps Strange Way of Pushing Boundaries would have been a more fitting title.