Ethan Hawke has signed on to star alongside Pedro Pascal in celebrated Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar’s new half-hour western short film “Strange Way of Life” for Madrid-based El Deseo.
The “Pain and Glory” and “The Skin I Live In” helmer will shoot the English-language short before making his English-language feature debut with the Cate Blanchett-led “A Manual for Cleaning Women”.
The story begins with a man, Silva, riding on a horse across a desert to Bitter Creek. He has come to visit Sheriff Jake with whom he worked as a hired gun 25 years earlier
Silva comes with the pre-text of re-encountering his old friend, but after a celebratory night, Jake tells him that the real reason for his visit isn’t memories of their old friendship.
Twists and turns ensue, but the title refers to a song by Amalia Rodrigues that deals with ignoring one’s own desires. Almodovar is famed for exploring desire and smashing up genre codes, and has dubbed this film his “answer to ‘Brokeback Mountain'” – a movie he has criticised in the past for its timidness.
Jason Fernandez, Jose Condessa, George Steane, Manu Rios, Pedro Casablanc and Sara Salamo co-star. Filming will take place in the deserts of southern Spain, including a settlement that Sergio Leone built five decades ago for his Clint Eastwood-led “Man with No Name” trilogy
Source: Variety
