“In a genre as masculine as the Western, desire and tenderness have never been linked to the male”

After those initial and independent meetings, Almodóvar began to develop the idea of ​​a ‘queer’ western, a passionate romance between two very different, even opposite, ‘cowboys’ from each other. This is how the short film “Strange Way of Life” was born, starring Hawke and Pascal. “The descriptions that I made in the script were a portrait of both Ethan and Pedro. That’s why I was very happy when they both said yes. I needed a cold, Anglo-Saxon, hermetic character; and another rather warm, without fear of talking about his desires. “They were absolutely perfect for these roles.”says the director of films like “All About My Mother,” “Talk to Her” and “Volver,” in a roundtable with Latin American media, among which he was Trade.

Now, why the short format to tell a story like this? Almodóvar, who had already directed the short film “The Human Voice” (2020), starring Tilda Swinton, assures that it is a format that allows for more experimentation: “The feature film, in some way, has a greater relationship with reality. On the other hand, the short allows you to approach it in a way, I don’t want to say whimsical, but more experimental with the story.

The Spanish director mentions recent cases such as those of his colleagues Yorgos Lanthimos or Wes Anderson, who have released short films that have attracted significant attention. “I think the idea that a movie should last an hour and a half no longer exists.”. I have seen things that are 15 or 50 minutes long, and it seems to me that the canon of the 90-minute feature film has been greatly liberated. For me it has been very stimulating,” she adds.

INFLUENCE AND IDENTITY

Aesthetically, “Strange Way of Life” reveals Almodóvar’s taste for classic Westerns, but at the same time marked by his own imprint: Pascal’s character, for example, wears a bright green jacket, which might seem atypical in the context of the story. Her inspiration is more specific, however: the jacket worn by James Stewart in Anthony Mann’s “Bend of the River” (1952).

“I am a director who uses color a lot,” explains the filmmaker, “and since I worked on this short with Yves Saint Laurent, almost everything they offered me in terms of clothing was gray or black. I was crazy about wearing a colored garment, until I found this one of James Stewart’s character. I automatically took note because I was sure someone would tell me that in the West people didn’t wear clothes of those colors. Oh well, I trust Anthony Mann a lot [risas]”.

This is how references were appropriated. “Joe’s suit, Silva’s son, It is an almost direct translation of the Burt Lancaster from ‘Veracruz’, all in black leather, which looked very good for the villain. For Sheriff Jake I was very inspired by several westerns that Kirk Douglas made, such as ‘Gunfight at the OK Corral’ and ‘The Last Train to Gun Hill’, where he always looked very elegant, with a dark suit and ‘bolo tie’. In general, among all the westerns I saw, men’s clothing had changed very little. Whether they were sheriffs, outlaws or gunmen, they always wore checkered shirts, a vest, and a handkerchief around their neck. And suddenly it didn’t matter if it was the 19th century or the 20th century. “I didn’t change the costumes.”

AGAINST PREJUDICES

But getting back to the story that unites Jake and Silva (Hawke and Pascal, respectively), there is something captivating about watching these two tough men cooking, making the bed or taking care of each other. “I believe that in a genre as masculine as the western, Both desire and tenderness are feelings that have never been linked to men. “They are feelings, if not prohibited, at least not developed in male characters,” Almodóvar emphasizes.

“There are even people who have told me how surprised they were to see a scene in which one of the men is healing a wound to the other,” says the director. That is to say, in something as logical as being cured, we are surprised that a man and not a woman does it. Our head is organized in such a way that in a scene of this type we have always seen that it is a woman who cares, who heals, etc.”

Finally, in the dichotomy between the harshness of Ethan Hawke’s character and the affectionateness of Pascal’s, we asked Almodóvar if there is any facet with which he identifies more. “I feel much closer to the character of Pascal -reply-. In his spontaneity, in his lack of prejudices when talking about his own desires. I don’t know if I would be as truculent as him, nor as calculating; But by character I feel closer to him.”