On the most prestigious film stage in the world, Pedro Almodóvar created the event on Wednesday by presenting Strange Way of Lifea Western queer shot in English with Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. The Spanish master did not disappoint.
À quand remonte la dernière fois où un court métrage a constitué le grand évènement du jour dans le plus grand festival de cinéma du monde ? Quand il est monté sur scène en reprenant pied de façon spectaculaire après avoir trébuché, Thierry Frémaux a d’ailleurs lancé l’idée – à la suggestion de Pedro Almodóvar – d’instaurer une nouvelle section dévolue à des courts métrages d’auteurs, où seraient invités des cinéastes établis qui auraient envie de faire un « pas de côté » entre deux longs métrages. L’idée fera peut-être son chemin, qui sait ?
Rarement un court métrage a été aussi attendu que Strange Way of Life, le deuxième que propose le réalisateur de La loi du désir après La voix humaine, également tourné en anglais. Au Théâtre Claude Debussy, où avait lieu la projection officielle, la fébrilité était grande, la séance très courue, et le délégué général, qui a rendu hommage aux artisans du film, a en outre tenu à souligner les présences dans la salle de deux personnalités parmi tant d’autres : Catherine Deneuve et Xavier Dolan.
Un western traditionnel
Dix-huit ans après la sortie de Brokeback Mountain, un long métrage pour lequel on l’avait pressenti à titre de réalisateur (ce fut finalement Ang Lee qui en a signé la réalisation), Pedro Almodóvar propose une histoire de désir entre deux hommes dans un cadre d’un western traditionnel.
PHOTO FOURNIE PAR ELDEO
Ethan Hawke et Pedro Pascal dans Strange Way of Life, film de Pedro Almodóvar
« Il est vrai que la toute dernière réplique de mon film est une réponse à une question que posait Ennis [joué par Heath Ledger] In Brokeback Mountain : “What can two men living together on a ranch do?”, indicated the scenario writer during a conversation having followed the projection. This reference aside, Strange Way of Life is a completely independent film. »
I wanted to make a classic western by building the story around a desire between two men.
Pedro Almodovar
In this 30-minute short film, Ethan Hawke plays Jake, the sheriff of a small town who unexpectedly sees a man he hasn’t seen for 25 years come to his house one day. It happens that this cowboy is Silva (Pedro Pascal), with whom Jake lived at the time a passionate story that he preferred to forget. However, Silva has never erased from his memory the smallest details of their relationship, even if it only lasted two months. Inevitably, the recall of this story arouses desire again between the two former lovers, but what happens next will be much more complex than it might seem at first sight. Especially since, as in any good western, we also play the gun.
“It’s still strange that in 2023, never a western has addressed the desire between two men in a really frank way, noted the filmmaker. That said, I salute the revival of the genre brought about by directors like Chloe Zhao (The Rider), Kelly Reichardt (First Cow) and Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog). As for Yellowstone, it’s a classic series in the worst sense of the word! »
Show desire differently
If the erotic tension between the two protagonists is palpable, the filmmaker did not wish this time to punctuate his film with sexually explicit scenes.
“As time passes, it seems like I’m less interested in shooting sex scenes like I’ve done in the past,” he explained. I want to show the desire differently. There, I wanted to make a western in my own way, which does not seem anachronistic in the eyes of American spectators. After all, gender belongs to them! »
PHOTO VIANNEY LE CAER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
George Steane, Jason Fernandez, Ethan Hawke, Pedro Almodóvar, Jose Condessa and Manu Rios before the presentation of Strange Way of Life at the Cannes Film Festival
As one of those rare filmmakers whose signature is strong enough to draw an entire cinematographic genre towards them, admirers of Pedro Almodóvar’s cinema will not be at all disoriented. Same attention to detail, same way of bringing up unexpected situations, same melancholy. Strange Way of Life begins with a close-up of the face of a character (Manu Ríos) whose identity we will learn later, who sings an evocative song in Spanish while accompanying himself on the guitar.
Pedro Pascal was absent from the game, but Ethan Hawke still seemed to be floating on cloud nine.
“When I received the email with the script, I had to go for a walk, telling myself that I must have done something good in my life to receive such a great proposal. For an actor, it is so pleasant to surrender to the hands of a great filmmaker! »
Métropole Films owns the exploitation rights of Strange Way of Living for Quebec territory. No release date has yet been set.