Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar brings a new climax to his upcoming queer Western Stranger Way of Life.
In a recent episode of Dua Lipa’s At Your Service podcast, the filmmaker said the short – which is over half an hour long – possesses “the kind of dialogue that I don’t think a Western film has ever captured between two men.”
“This is a queer Western in the sense that there are two men, and they love each other,” Almodóvar elaborated in an interview with Lipa. “And they behave in that situation in an opposite way.”
The film follows two men who get together after not seeing each other for 25 years. Ethan Hawke portrays Sheriff Jake while Pedro Pascal plays Gunslinger Silva.
“One of them travels through the desert to find the other,” Almodóvar said in a June interview with IndieWire. “There will be a showdown between them. But really, the story is very intimate.”
Stranger Way of Life also explores some of the genre’s key tropes.
“It’s about masculinity in that deep sense because the Western is a male genre,” Almodóvar stated on the podcast. “It has the gunslinger. It has the ranch. And it has the sheriff. It has the town. It has the showdown.”
While the genre has long had a strange undercurrent, it’s only recently that westerns have begun to gain attention. It is credited with enduring his heteronormative challenges. This genre consists of films such as Brokeback Mountain (2005) and The Power of the Dog (2021).
Read also: Ang Lee to Helm Bruce Lee Biopic with son as the Martial Arts Legend
Stranger Way of Life Genre
However, both films received criticism, especially from older cowboys. For example, Sam Elliott openly criticizes the homosexual scene in Jane Champion’s The Power of Dog. However, he later apologized for his remarks.
Almodóvar shared that he’ll uncover the final work at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The film is still in the process of editing.
“It’s something very different,” he shared with Lipa. “I mean, it’s another genre that I’ve never done before.”
Furthermore, he said Pascal and Hawke served as the perfect cowboys for the film.
“I’m very happy with both of them,” he said.
Stranger Way of Life also stars Manu Rios, Jose Condessa, Jason Fernandez, Sara Salamo, Erenice Lohan, Pedro Casablanca, and George Steane.
In August 2022, principal photography happened in Southern Spain – in the Tabernas Desert section of Almeria. Almodóvar filmed the movie in his own production company El Deseo in collaboration with Saint Laurent.
Moreover, SL head designer Anthony Vaccarello served as associate producer and costume designer.
Additionally, the film’s title is the same as an old Portuguese fado tune by Amalia Rodrigues.
Read also: ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’ Introduces Voice Actors
