Every year, after the Oscar nominations, the 15 or so short films that get nominated have a limited, theatrical release. Disney and Pixar were in the habit of attaching short films before their feature films. Other than at a film festival, most Americans who go to multiplexes across the country don't get the opportunity to see short films. Sony Pictures Classics decided to change that, at least for this one special occasion. Oscar-winning, Spanish filmmaker, Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her and All About My Mother) started making short films in the 1970's. He got acclaim when he started making features in the 80's. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he released a short film called The Human Voice (2020) that got a limited, theatrical released in Europe, mainly in Almodóvar's home nation of Spain.
After his Oscar-nominated feature, Parallel Mothers (2021), Almodóvar collaborated with Yves Saint Laurent, the French fashion house, to produce this short film that according to the Spanish director was in response to recent Westerns by female directors, such as The Rider (2018), First Cow (2020) and The Power of the Dog (2021). He felt inspired to do a take on the American mythology that was "the conquest of the West." His particular focus was on the carnal desires of men at that time, men who often didn't have access to many women. As an openly gay director, Almodóvar was also drawn to those carnal desires sprouting from same-sex attraction.
Despite the title, what's strange is that Almodóvar didn't see fit to make this a feature film because the common criticism from a lot of the major film critics is that it should have been a feature-length narrative. In the documentary that proceeds the short film, Almodóvar admits that he has an outline for a feature-length narrative. The only explanation that it isn't a feature is either due to lack of funding or lack of availability from his two lead actors, one in particular who has become very busy.
Pedro Pascal is currently one of the busiest and most in demand actors working today. He's currently working on two, television shows, The Mandalorian (2019) and The Last of Us (2023). Both of which are on-going hit shows. Plus, according to reports Pascal was a part of two, other film productions occurring around the same time. This film, reportedly, began shooting in August 2022 in Spain. That same month, Ethan Coen's Drive-Away Dolls (2024) in which Pascal is involved also began shooting in Pittsburgh. In November, immediately after both Almodóvar and Coen were done filming, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck began filming Freaky Tales, which also involves Pascal and didn't wrap until January. Pascal also has Ridley Scott's Gladiator 2 and another TV series on HBO coming up, so long story short, Pascal probably didn't have the time to do a feature in the middle of all that. Doing a short for Almodóvar is probably all he had time to do.
Arguably, Almodóvar sets up a situation that does feel somewhat unresolved. Some could make the case that it even ends on somewhat of a cliffhanger. Yet, a case could be made that short films don't have to follow traditional narrative rules. It then is up to the individual viewer to decide if a sketch is enough. All the information that one needs to know about the characters established here is present. More narrative probably wouldn't reveal any more about the characters but simply satisfy some plot points left dangling. I would of course love to see those plot points resolved, but I understand the constraints of a short film or that the rules of a narrative might not always apply.
It's a similar consideration I put on Almodóvar's The Human Voice, which has been playing in conjunction and along with this short film. In that 2020 short, Tilda Swinton plays a woman who is alone on screen with the exception of a dog. The entire film is one long monologue that lays out the entirety of her relationship with a man we never see or meet. It's all about her unraveling. There are questions at the end that are raised, which don't get resolved, but that didn't bother me either. I suppose because Almodoóvar was adapting an 80-year-old play by Jean Cocteau that there was more of a foundation there. With this Pascal film, Almodóvar is working completely from scratch. The ending to The Human Voice did feel like it resolved the central relationship, even though it's one we don't see. This film doesn't necessarily resolve the central relationship.
Pascal stars as Silva, a Mexican cowboy or rancher who 25 years ago had a relationship with a man named Jake, played by Ethan Hawke (Training Day and Before Sunrise). Jake is now the sheriff of a town not that far from the Mexican border. When it's suspected that Silva's son named Joe, played by George Steane, has killed somebody, it's Jake's job to find Joe and bring him to justice. Silva and Jake's relationship was a romantic one and Silva attempts to use that romance to save his son. It becomes a question of whether or not Silva and Jake can rekindle their romance and pursue a relationship now as older men. The answer to that question isn't directly answered, but there are enough context clues there that one could derive an answer and the specific answer that Almodóvar lays out in the interview segment.
That was enough for me. It was also enough to see Almodóvar try something I don't think he's ever attempted. I'm not super knowledgeable about his filmography, but I'm not sure he's ever attempted a Western or a historical film such as this. He adds his own touch to the genre and it was thrilling and beautiful.
Extraña forma de vida
Rated R for some sexual content, language and bloody images.
Running Time: 31 mins.
In theaters.