Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Warning: The following review is of a film that is part of TIFF 2023 and may contain spoilers for Strange Way of Life. Reader discretion is advised.

At an engrossing interview held by the Toronto International Film Festival, Spanish legend Pedro Almodóvar prefaced a screening of his latest short film, Strange Way of Life, with the reminder that he was once slated to direct Brokeback Mountain (he did go on to say that he thought Ang Lee did a great job). He detailed that he wanted a film more about the nurturing of two lovers as opposed to one of two men that happen to fall in this crazy thing we call love, and we get that in spades eighteen years after Lee’s masterwork dropped. Almodóvar told the TIFF audience to remember the question brought up by Jack Twist to Ennis Del Mar: What is there to do for two men who are in love in the middle of nowhere? Almodóvar assures us we get the proper answer in his latest release. The projection of Strange Way of Life then commenced.

Ethan Hawke stars as Jake: a sheriff who is on the search for a younger man who has done wrong. He is approached by Silva (Pedro Pascal) as a major surprise. They were both briefly in love twenty-five years prior but hadn’t seen each other since until now. Despite the instant reconnection, it is clear that Silva is there for an additional reason: his own connection with the wanted man. Almodóvar sets up for an emotional Mexican standoff using two-thirds of Strange Way of Life as he recognizes the importance of the trope in Westerns. Before the screening, Almodóvar promised that this is the one time he tried to play by the rules of a genre’s conventions because he identified the Western as an American style and not a European one inherently. Still, he has his signature traits throughout the film including extreme close-ups, bright colours (mainly red, of course), and melodrama oozing from all corners of the short’s super-wide aspect ratio. This is not just a love letter to Hollywood Westerns but to Douglas Sirk as well.

When we approach the riveting conclusion of this short, we get that answer Almodóvar guaranteed us. What do two men who love each other do in the middle of nowhere? They take care of one another. While the ending is much more powerful than I am leading on (I am leaving out a major, crimson spoiler), Strange Way of Life concludes as quickly as it began. Almodóvar earned a standing ovation, most likely because he is one of the greatest living filmmakers. I’m sure a number of the risen audience was because of the short itself. As someone who knows the majority of Almodóvar’s filmography inside and out, maybe I am addicted but I couldn’t help but wonder how much better Strange Way of Life — despite the fact that it is already good — would be if it was a feature film with the room to breathe. Instead of quickdraw dialogue and a dreamy flashback to catch us up to speed, what if we had proper exposure to these two fascinating characters? How much of these moments could be delivered from compelling, total silence as opposed to the necessity of verbal details?

When it comes to this short, I can’t help but think it is an exercise for an established auteur who has left his mark and earned his right to toy around. This is a tribute from Almodóvar to the Westerns that inspired him as a young teenager. This is a hint as to what we may have had had Almodóvar gone through with directing Brokeback Mountain. This is just a trinket for those that adore Pedro Almodóvar and I am most certainly not complaining. Even in this way, it feels impossible for Almodóvar to not make a bad film of any size. I just wish we got more because of what the possibilities here are. Between the two committed, raw performances by Hawke and Pascal and Almodóvar’s authorial brilliance, we have a preview of an exemplary film that never was in the form of a short that will act nicely as an appetizer before viewing the main attraction, be it Talk To Her, All About My Mother, or even Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. Strange Way of Life scratched an itch that Almodóvar had. Now, we have our own: this film in its complete form.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.