Practice makes perfect, right? That’s what adults tell children all the time when they’re growing up. And the sentiment can actually apply to adult life too, specifically in your career. That’s something that apparently Pedro Almodóvar is content to do while preparing for his first English-language feature, “A Manual for Cleaning Women.” Before he embarks on his first English-language feature, he’s first working on a couple of short films along the way, with the latest being “Strange Way of Life.”
According to an interview with IndieWire, Pedro Almodóvar has revealed that his next project is going to be a 30-minute English-language short film titled, “Strange Way of Life.” This comes on the heels of his previous English-language short, “The Human Voice,” which debuted two years ago. These two projects are serving as ways for Almodóvar to work in English-language productions without jumping headfirst into a feature-length project, just yet.
“It’s very convenient for me,” Almodóvar said. “I feel much freer to do things in English this way.”
“Strange Way of Life” stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal and is expected to begin production in August. The short is said to be a Western and will follow the story of a sheriff and a gunslinger who find their paths crossing. The short is produced by the filmmaker’s studio, El Deseo, as well as Saint Laurent, whose head designer Anthony Vaccarello will also work as a costume designer.
“So one of them travels through the desert to find the other,” he said. “There will be a showdown between them, but really the story is very intimate.”
When asked if the relationship turns romantic, Almodóvar said, “You can guess. I mean, masculinity is one of the subjects of the movie.”
Film fans who have been following Almodóvar’s career over the years might learn about this project and immediately become reminded of when the filmmaker was approached to direct “Brokeback Mountain” years ago. Almodóvar would eventually pass because he “never believed that they would give me complete freedom and independence to make what I wanted.” The film would eventually go to Ang Lee and the rest is Oscar-winning history.
While talking about “Brokeback Mountain” and why his vision wouldn’t have ever gotten made, Almodóvar said, “The relation between these two guys is animalistic. It was a physical relationship. The punch of the movie comes when they have to separate, and Heath Ledger discovers that he can’t think about leaving. That’s a strong discovery. But until that moment, it is animalistic, and for me, it was impossible to have that in the movie because it was a Hollywood movie. You could not have these two guys fucking all the time.”
While “Strange Way of Life” doesn’t share a lot of the same DNA as “Brokeback Mountain,” the filmmaker admits that the short “could be like my answer to ‘Brokeback Mountain.’”
Again, taking on two English-language shorts back-to-back seems to be the perfect practice for Almodóvar, as he preps for “A Manual for Cleaning Women,” which is expected to begin production in early 2023 with Cate Blanchett attached to star. “Strange Way of Life” doesn’t have an expected release date, but if “The Human Voice” is any indication, expect Almodóvar’s new short to have a long festival run before arriving in theaters and/or at home.