Review of The Way (2010) by Panta O — 26 Dec 2011

This wonderful touching drama which stars Martin Sheen and his real life son Emilio Estevez, takes us to the ancient pilgrimage road of Camino de Santiago. It is a movie for all generations, and the director and screenwriter Emilio Estevez said it is "pro people, pro-life - not anti - anything." And he is right...

It's a movie for people with spirit! The story of Thomas Avery, an American doctor who goes to France following the death of his adult son who was killed in the Pyrenees during a storm while walking the Camino de Santiago - is something very similar to one of the books of Paulo Coelho I read - but it had much more personal feeling. Tom's purpose is initially to retrieve his son's body - however, in a combination of grief and homage to his son, Tom decides to walk the same ancient spiritual trail where his son died in order to understand his son better. On that road he understands himself and the world as well as the purpose of living much better and spiritually gets closer to his son!

The personal feeling probably comes from the film's inspiration: Emilio Estevez's own son, Taylor - who in 2003 was only 19 years old - and Martin Sheen, took part in this pilgrimage route. On that pilgrimage Taylor drove the length of the Camino with his grandfather when on the way he fell in love and met the woman who would become his wife, thus, the Camino holding special meaning to them. Since that trip a series of discussions started between Sheen and his son for a movie about the Camino de Santiago. Sheen originally suggested it be a low-budget documentary, but Estevez was not interested in such a small project, wanting instead a bigger experience - and I am glad that he made such an inspirational movie for all of us! If you like a good, old-fashioned and well done film which explores the universal themes of loss, community and faith - this is my choice!