It is a movie with some profound messages about relationships, about family - and about life and the way we choose to live it.
It is also an entertaining story about a father and a son - and it is also, interestingly, a movie directed by a son (Emilio Estevez) that stars Estevez' own father (Martin Sheen) as the main actor!
Martin Sheen in The Way
Sheen plays the role of an American dentist Tom Avery who tears himself away from his busy work schedule in California to travel to the little village of St. Jean Pied de Port at the foothills of the French Pyrenees. The purpose of his journey? To collect the mortal remains of his adult son Daniel (played by Emilio Estevez himself) who was killed in a storm while walking the ancient pilgrim trail known as the Camino de Santiago.
Despite his initial urge to just get his son's remains and return home as soon as possible, Tom decides - perhaps infuenced by his own grief, perthaps out of a desire to pay homage to his son - to honour his son's memory by completing the Camino pilgrimage, walking the entire 800 km spiritual trail carrying his son's ashes with him in an effort to understand in death the son he did not spend the time to get to know in life.
What happens in the process is something Tom never anticipated - what a powerful and deep impact the pilgrimage would have on him, his values and his very outlook on life.
Filmed entirely in France and Spain, in the regions of the Basque country, the flat meseta of central Spain and the green hills of Galicia through which the pilgrim trail (known as El Camino in Spanish and 'The Way of St James' in English), the movie carries an inspirational story with a powerful message about family, friendship, and the challenges we all face in our journey along the way of life.
Tom Avery's Journey Along The Camino
Being a city based dentist with a 'no time for exercise' lifestyle, Tom has little experience walking up hills and down dales with a knapsack on his back. However he soon discovers that he will not be alone on his pilgrimage as he makes his way, walking ten to twenty kilometres each day and stopping for the night in one of the simple refugios that provide cheap accommodation for pilgrims along the way. As he determinedly keeps walking with his son's ashes in his haversack, Tom meets other pilgrims (peregrinos) as from all over the world - each with their own personal issues and reasons for walking this path. They are all searching for greater meaning in their lives: a Dutchman (Yorick van Wageningen), a Canadian (Deborah Kara Unger) and an Irishman (James Nesbitt) - the last a writer suffering from a bout of writer's block. despite their diverse backgrounds, the four of them band together, occasionally testing each other's patience but helping each other out as fellows do when united in adversity.
From the unexpected and, oftentimes, amusing experiences along "The Way," 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.
The movie is characterised by stunning cinematography - amazing views over the Pyrenees and beautiful panoramas along The Way - and engaging character development. The characters - Sheen and his three companeros - are people you cannot help caring for as they make their imperfect journey to their destination, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
It is a great story - entertaining, but also raising questions about honour, integrity, community and relationships - that I am sure will be discussed long after viewers have been to see Estevez' film. The Way brings out these questions but it does not attempt to force any answers on the viewers.
Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez
The Way also captures the unique relationship between a father and his son - and the deep love that endures despite seemingly irreconcilable differences. It is a movie that will make the viewer appreciate not only the joy of being alive but also the goodness of the folk who walk with us along our journey of life and with whom we share our lives.
If I can mention here just one message that I drew from the movie, it is what Tom recalled, in a flashback, what his son had told him: "There is a difference between 'the life we live' and 'the life we choose.'
Sanjiva Wijesinha - Dr. Sanjiva Wijesinha, Associate Professor at Monash University medical school, writes on health, travel and medical topics.
