Movies are too long nowadays. It's a common complaint that stands up to scrutiny. From the latest multimillion-dollar production to the most esoteric example of slow cinema, too many titles end up wearing out their welcome. And, as we plunge headlong into awards season, those running times are expected to grow even longer, with a handful of highly anticipated fall releases sailing north of the three-hour mark.
But, at the same time, these plus-sized movies get ready to stake their piece of multiplex real estate or an easily visible spot on your streaming platform menus, another trend has emerged in 2023 that goes in the opposite direction. Not only are short films becoming increasingly popular, but compact scopes and abbreviated running times have lured directors who are household names.
Fresh from their film festival premieres, two new releases, clocking in at 31 and 41 minutes respectively, are now available for your perusal. One is going the theatrical route after a preview run at a local arthouse last month. The other is only a remote control command or mouse click away, and it comes accompanied by three other shorts that can be viewed together or separately. And now, lest this introduction becomes long-winded, let's cut to the chase.
“Strange Way of Life”: The Old West, at least in the movies, is as vast and enduring as the love between two men. How could Pedro Almodóvar resist its siren call? (He did once before, but more on that later.)
Ethan Hawke as Jake and Pedro Pascal as Silva in a scene from "Strange Way of Life" (Photo credit: El Deseo/Iglesias Mas.Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
The “Talk to Her” and “Pain and Glory” auteur's second English-language short film pits Ethan Hawke opposite Pedro Pascal as exes who may or may not be on opposing sides of the law. The characters' shared past makes all the difference here.
Not a wasted frame here, as Silva (Pascal) crosses the desert and rides into a town, not far from the Mexico border, to pay a visit to Jake (Hawke), the lover he hasn't seen in 25 years. The lover who is now the town sheriff, wields his integrity like a gun and guards his past affair with Silva like a government secret.
Ulterior motives and resentments rear their heads later, but whatever hangups Jake has melt away once he locks eyes with Silva. His look says, “It's been a quarter of a century, but you still give me goosies.” It doesn't hurt that Silva is wearing a fabulously anachronistic bright green jacket. It's Almodóvar's vision of the Old West, after all, where the Almería province of Andalucía stands in for the U.S. of A circa what appears to be the late 19th century. The filmmaker tosses Sergio Leone, John Ford, Nicholas Ray and other directors into the Osterizer, then distills the resulting cocktail through his distinctive sensibility.
Pedro Pascal as Silva and Ethan Hawke as Jake in a scene from "Strange Way of Life." (Photo credit: El Deseo/Iglesias Mas.Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Rather than limiting his grip, the shorter runtime lights a fire in Almodóvar's belly, giving an added charge to a dinner conversation between his middle-aged protagonists, not to mention the waves of regret that follow. True to Hays Code protocol, the filmmaker fades to black just as the flame is about to be rekindled, but he turns this fadeout into a commentary on pulling away when it comes to depicting same-sex intimacy. “A look is more transgressive than the most graphic sex scene, but I'm still going to give you generous portions of Pedro Pascal,” he appears to tell us with a wink.
And that's the key to unlocking “Strange Way of Life.” With its florid dialogue and a music score by Alberto Iglesias that sounds like it came right out of the studio system, this is a cowboy telenovela and proud of it. It sidesteps the pitfall of taking itself too seriously. For days after seeing it, I kept racking my brain as to what else it reminded me of. Then the lightbulb lit up: Almodóvar has made a remarriage comedy in Western drag. Think of Ersnt Lubitsch, George Cukor or Frank Capra being handed the reins to a 1940s oater, and you get the picture. (By the way, mighty pretty lensing by Spanish pro José Luis Alcaine, if a tad too video-y at times.) Think of “It Happened One Night,” only with Hawke playing Claudette Colbert to Pascal's Clark Gable.
More importantly, the film's length allows Almodóvar to keep the plot minimal (something to do with Silva's son in trouble, which leads to a delicious bit of impromptu co-parenting), the better to explore what fascinates him about men in Westerns. Hawke's Jake and Pascal's Silva represent the two sides of masculinity's coin that shouldn't be at war with each other but all too often are. Jake, whose raspy drawl appoximates Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name, represents strength and stoicism, corrupted by the toxicity of prehistoric prejudices and crippled by internalized homophobia.
Pedro Almodóvar's second English-language short film pits Ethan Hawke opposite Pedro Pascal as exes who may or may not be on opposing sides of the law. (Photo credit: El Deseo/Iglesias Mas.Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)
Silva, on the other hand, stands in for a kinder, gentler, more progressive male. He insists there's another way, a way that eschews violence. Consequently, he attempts to coax his old flame to harness the courage to own up to his repressed feelings and give love out in the open a chance.
If that tug of war sounds familiar, it might be because nearly two decades ago, Almodóvar was offered the opportunity to direct the big screen adaptation of “Brokeback Mountain.”
He walked away from this project, which was eventually helmed by Ang Lee. “Strange Way of Life” serves as a cheeky rejoinder to that laconic masterwork. It might initially come across as a lark, a stepping stone toward the real possibility of an English-language feature by Almodóvar. But the way it splices genres guides its A-list stars toward two of their finest performances, and the volumes it has to say about men and their guns (and we're not just talking firearms) suggests there's nothing minor about it at all. Because sometimes the best gifts come in the smallest packages.
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”: In my book, Wes Anderson already has a gem under his belt in 2023: the divine, polarizing “Asteroid City.” But it's clear he isn't quite done yet, and in a quartet of recently released Netflix shorts, he returns to the world of British author Roald Dahl (“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “James and the Giant Peach,” “Matilda”) and its wellspring of inspiration.
Anderson + Dahl yields a most compatible blend of sensibilities. The “Royal Tenenbaums” and “Grand Budapest Hotel” auteur understands better than most filmmakers who have brought Dahl's playful (and playfully nasty) prose to the screen that these stories work best with their sharp edges intact. Anderson is also keenly aware that underneath the cynicism and casual cruelty (thankfully, mostly directed at Dahl's antagonists) is the beating heart of a humanist.
All four shorts, of differing lengths, are good to varying degrees, but “Henry Sugar,” adapted from Dahl's 1977 short story, is the longest and best of the bunch. Shot in washed-out 16mm film by longtime cinematographer Robert Yeoman, in that boxy 1.33 aspect ratio he used in parts of “Budapest Hotel,” “Henry Sugar” traces the title character's journey from self-absorbed snobbery to learning to give a damn about others.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar in a scene from "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (Photo courtesy of Netflix 2023)
As played by an ideally cast Benedict Cumberbatch, the independently wealthy Henry comes across (and pilfers) a book, written by Dr. Chatterjee (Dev Patel), that chronicles his encounters with circus performer Imdad Khan (Ben Kingsley), who claims he can see with his eyes fully bandaged after being taught by an Indian yogi. Henry is certain he can master this gift, not to do good things and help people, mind you, but to cheat at cards.
Dev Patel as Dr. Chatterjee, Sir Ben Kingsley as Imdad Khan and Richard Ayoade as Dr. Marshall in a scene from "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (Photo courtesy of Netflix 2023)
The high-wire act that ensues is twofold, as the film's nesting-doll structure deftly jumps from one character's point of view to another. The actors simultaneously perform their scenes and narrate Dahl's prose, often turning the film into a visual audiobook with A-list Brits doing the reading. The inimitable Richard Ayoade provides well-timed comic relief as another doctor who witnesses Imdad Khan's miraculous ability. Rounding out the cast is Ralph Fiennes, pitch perfect as a fourth wall-breaking Dahl and, in the film's funniest scene, a police officer who scolds Henry.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar and Ralph Fiennes as The Policeman in a scene from "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (Photo courtesy of Netflix 2023)
If anything holds back “Henry Sugar,” despite its immaculate production values and stacked cast, it's the inherent dryness that comes with its conceit of reciting Dahl's words while also acting out Henry's fanciful quest for enlightenment. Nevertheless, Anderson's obsession with stage artifice and his penchant for inserting layers upon layers, the same quality that set “Asteroid City” apart, is on ample display here, as is production designer Adam Stockhausen's sets, which, in bringing the U.K. and India circa the 1950s and early 1960s to life, embrace the theatricality of Anderson's mise en scene while still feeling intrinsically cinematic.
Benedict Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar in a scene from "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (Photo courtesy of Netflix 2023)
“Henry Sugar” doesn't improve upon what Anderson accomplished with “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” his first animated feature and his first whack at tackling Dahl, but it's an utter delight all the same. Its misanthropy gives way to a faith in humankind that feels almost Dickensian. Faith is the operative word here: here's a faithful adaptation that feels of a piece with Anderson's filmography while continuing a new chapter in his body of work that can only be described as a carefully controlled burst of creativity.
Following its one-week preview run at Coral Gables Art Cinema in September, “Strange Way of Life” (paired with his first English-language short “The Human Voice,” starring Tilda Swinton) is now showing across South Florida, including O Cinema South Beach, Regal South Beach, AMC Aventura, AMC Sunset Place and Paradigm Cinemas: Gateway in Fort Lauderdale. “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” is now streaming on Netflix along with Wes Anderson's three other Roald Dahl shorts: “The Swan,” “The Rat Catcher” and “Poison.”
