The Way - La route ensemble

Like most road movies, this is as much about the characters' inward journey as it is about getting from A to B. At times it is too sentimental for my taste and some of the encounters seem rather artificial. But it has considerable warmth, humanity and good humour.

I saw this at the BFI in London at a screening attended by Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen. They are very proud of their film and it obviously means a lot to them, as father and son. They came across as intelligent and socially aware people, which was great to see.

During the discussion, a member of the audience pointed out the parallels with "The Wizard of Oz", something which I confess escaped me while the film was on but seemed perfectly obvious when I heard it. So watch out for that if you see the movie, and also look out for a cameo by Matt Clark, veteran character actor and, apparently, good friend of MArtin Sheen.

This movie exceeded all expectations, which were already very high. All kudos to Emilio Estevez for an excellent screenplay and superb direction. The photography, too, was wonderful. I think this will go down as one of Martin Sheen's best ever performances. He underplays his role (due to Emilio's direction?) which makes it all the stronger. In fact, it's the understated quality of the whole film that makes it very moving. It never descends into sentimentality but you still feel the grief of Martin Sheen's character as he makes the pilgrimage his estranged dead son never completed. At the same time, there are a lot of funny moments, which lift it from becoming a depressing journey. The gradual coalescing of the four very different main characters into a unified group works very well. Each of them has a different reason for making the pilgrimage and, to begin with, they seem to have nothing in common, but it's still very believable when they start to relate to each other. Emilio and his father Martin have every reason to be very proud of this film. It works on every level.

This carefully written road movie drama was directed by Emilio Estevez, who used traditional footage, and laid out the story over a compelling soundtrack with artists such as Tyler Bates, James Taylor and Nick Drake. In brief, we're following Martin Sheen's character Tom during his pilgrimage journey whilst mourning his dead son who died on the same pilgrim route after only one day. Tom meets people along the way who also become his friends, although Tom himself is uninviting. In contrast to the other characters Tom develops throughout the film and goes through the various stages of mourning that come with a great loss such as he suffered. Except from the usual message that people spend too little time reflecting over their life's I think "The Way" makes a good job of describing the strong bond between father and son, and at the same time highlight some problems with that relationship. Some scenes are obviously there to hammer in those two messages and the film would have been even better had they been made more subtle. I do recommend watching this film, and I think it shows that Emilio Estevez' directing skills don't just pertain to "Bobby".

"The Way" is a really nice film in which we face some peculiar roles while navigating this ever-changing and complicated world . Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son (played by Emilio Estevez), killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking the Camino de Santiago. Rather than return home , Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage to pay tribute his son's desire to finish the journey . Tom decides to journey on this path of pilgrims, what Tom doesn't scheme on is the profound impact the trip will have on him and his "California Bubble Life". Inexperienced as a trekker, Tom soon finds out that he will not be alone on this journey and he becomes stronger . On his journey, Tom meets other pilgrims from all around the world , each with their own issues and looking for greater meaning in their lives: a fatty man (Yorick van Wageningen) from Netherland, who wants to lose weight , a smoking Canadian (Deborah Kara Unger) and an eccentric Irish writer (James Nesbitt) . From the unexpected and, often times, fun adventures , this unlikely quartet of misfits creates an everlasting bond and Tom begins to learn what it means to be a citizen of the world again. All of them are broken and looking for greater meaning in their lives , but along the way they strengthen their souls . Through Tom's unresolved relationship with his son, he discovers the difference between "the life we live and the life we ".Life is too big to walk it alone.

A powerful , thoughtful and inspirational story about a marvellous father-son relationship , some friends and the challenges have to face a motley grup of roles . Concerning a misfit group of people join and share view points, and amusing experiences along the way . An extremely stirring and touching movie with a lot of messages to fortify the human spirit. .Quartet starring are frankly good : the grieving Martin Sheen , the mature smoking Deborah Kara Unger , the burly Dutchman Yorick van Wageningen and James Nesbitt as an Irish writer who is suffering from a bout of writer's block. Martin Sheen is really fabulous as the beloved father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling The Way , he is the best character by mingling grief and paying tribute to his son, deciding to take the pilgrimage himself. It contains a colorful and evocative cinematography by Juan Miguel Azpiroz . Special mention for musical score composed by Tyler Bates , full of sensitive and attractive sounds. The motion picture was stunningly directed by Emilio Estevez who also appears briefly in some scenes along with his father Martin Sheen.

The film describes alrightly ¨The Camino de Santiago (Latin: Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; Galician: O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St. James , is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried . Many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It is also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and organized tour groups, and can be seen within the context of Christian colonization and Christianization. The Way of St. James was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during the later Middle Ages, and a pilgrimage route on which a plenary indulgence could be earned;other major pilgrimage routes include the Via Francigena to Rome and the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Legend holds that St. James's remains were carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain, where he was buried in what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela also called "Saint James" . The Way can take one of dozens of pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. Traditionally, as with most pilgrimages, the Way of Saint James began at one's home and ended at the pilgrimage site. However, a few of the routes are considered main ones. During the Middle Ages, the route was highly travelled.The main pilgrimage route to Santiago follows an earlier Roman trade route, which continues to the Atlantic coast of Galicia, ending at Cape Finisterre. Although it is known today that Cape Finisterre, Spain's westernmost point, is not the westernmost point of Europe , the fact that the Romans called it Finisterrae (literally the end of the world) indicates that they viewed it as such. At night, the Milky Way overhead seems to point the way, so the route acquired the nickname "Voie lactée" - the Milky Way in French However, the Black Death, the Protestant Reformation, and political unrest in 16th century Europe led to its decline. By the 1980s, only a few hundred pilgrims per year registered in the pilgrim's office in Santiago. In October 1987, the route was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe; it was also named one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. Since the 1980s the route has attracted a growing number of modern-day international pilgrims. Whenever St. James's Day (25 July) falls on a Sunday, the cathedral declares a Holy or Jubilee Year . The French Way and the Routes of Northern Spain are the courses listed in the World Heritage List by UNESCO.

I have looked forward to "the way" since first hearing about it. I heard interviews with Martin Sheen himself and a great double interview with Martin and Emilio on Irish radio. I did a part of the camino in 2009 and It was a life changing/enhancing experience for me so I couldn't wait to see how the film would deal with it. Yesterday I saw the film in the Screen cinema in College Green Dublin. The film is, in my opinion, very true to the camino experience. A previous reviewer trivialised it as "a road movie" and suggested "wizard of Oz" characterisation. The camino "road" has been travelled for over a thousand years. Long before "road movies" were even thought about and yes, any story of fellow travellers sharing their stories on a journey, can be similar to the "wizard of Oz" but I think Chaucers "Canterbury Tales" is probably the true origin of the species. The camino de Santiago in its reality, and in this film, is a wonderful kaleidoscopic confluence of humanity. Pilgrims seem to self-select for certain character traits such as eccentricity, other worldliness, joyfullness, adventurousness, hurt, curiosity etc. Tom's companions were all from the palette of characters I found on the camino. Tom himself was an accidental pilgrim and only at the end of the camino did he allow himself to fall in love with it like the others. Tom, the cynical skeptic, driven to put one foot in front of another as a way of dealing with the brokenness of his relationship with his son and the trauma of his sudden death, allows the distance required to allow viewers share in the journey of the Camino in a way that could not have been achieved by following four "ordinary" pilgrims, no matter how colourful. Tom was the "straight man", the foil, that allowed the full colours of all the other characters to shine through. I thought it was a brilliant piece of cinema. Ole!