Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal play lovers within the Western romance A Strange Way to Live. The movie has striking similarities to Brokeback Mountain, so how are the 2 projects related?
Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke in “Strange Lifestyle” | A Sony Pictures classic
It’s been nearly twenty years since Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger engaged in a forbidden romance within the American West from the Sixties to the Eighties. Their passion was evident. Their love for one another was undeniable, but never fully realized. Now it’s 2023 and something similar is here.
The short features Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke An odd lifestyle from director Pedro Almodovar (Parallel Lovers, The Skin I Live In, Pain and Glory which premiered on the Cannes Film Festival on May 26, 2023. As you may see within the trailer, Hawke and Pascal play a lawman and cowboy within the Wild West – in a movie that bears a striking resemblance to Brokeback Mountain. Are the 2 movies related in any way?
How does “Strange Way of Life” connect with “Brokeback Mountain”?
In just 31 minutes, this high-octane, romance-fueled narrative takes a queer perspective and brings it to the western landscape – in a way that’s each revisionist and celebrates a century-old genre. However, anyone conversant in Ang Lee’s classics can not help but notice the similarities between the 2 An odd lifestyle AND Brokeback Mountain.
Speaking of the upcoming movie to The New York TimesAlmódovar notes that the film is the reply to the somewhat rhetorical query Ledger’s character asks Gyllenhaal about what their life could be like in Brokeback Mountain. He asks, “What would two men within the West do working on a ranch?” Almódovar said, “In some ways, my film answers that.”
The film follows within the footsteps of Pascal and Hawke – who reunite 25 years after their passionate affair – and might (in a way) be seen as a continuation of the narrative presented in Brokeback Mountain. Interestingly, Almodovar had a probability to be on the helm of the Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain but he refused.
— Pedro Pascal (@pascalispunnk) May 6, 2023
Almódovar once rejected “The Mystery of Brokeback Mountain.”
Almodovar turned down the prospect to direct Brokeback Mountain, which won Ang Lee an Oscar for Best Director in 2006. Now Almódovar can tell his gay Western narrative – with a fresh perspective that compensates for its sometimes juicy charm with the wonderful performances of Hawke and Pascal. However, 31 minutes looks as if complete tease. Speaking in regards to the short film, the director shared:
“Of course it might have been a feature film… But I believe it was the proper duration for the story I would like to inform.”
The short film premiered on the Cannes Film Festival and met with mixed reactions, however it can’t be denied its delicacy, sensitivity and stimulating sensuality.
