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The Way: how do you feel about THE movie?

The Way - LOVE it? HATE it? Or...meh...

  • 5 - I absolutely LOVE it, and have rewatched it many times

    Votes: 176 43.9%

  • 4 - It was an enjoyable movie, and I'd happily see it again but don't seek it out.

    Votes: 157 39.2%

  • 3 - I really don't care one way or another (or I have not seen it).

    Votes: 32 8.0%

  • 2 - I saw it once and that was more than enough.

    Votes: 25 6.2%

  • 1 - I absolutely HATE it, and wish people would stop talking about it.

    Votes: 11 2.7%
  • Total voters
    401
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I'm a five, my wife is a four. We watched for the first time after making a decision to go. I have watched a few times since( our Camino Frances was seven years ago). While it's not a perfect depiction of the journey, it's close enough that I get nostalgic and a little teary when I see places I recognize ( Orisson for example).
It was a meaningful pilgrimage for us and the movie is a wonderful reminder.
 
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Nancy Frey in ´Pilgrim Stories´ doesn´t mention it, and I haven´t seen any other mention of it anywhere else so I suspect it is a fairly recent phenomenon, at least as a popular motivation.
 
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Anyway, I would have to go with choice #2. I have seen it twice, but it's not a favorite as I'm not sure it really caught what a Peregrino experiences, such as how tired and sore you can get at the beginning of the trek (at least it was for me...). I know it was a movie so it had to have some conflict in it, but I don't recall that happening when I was walking. Most of us are too nice and it's too easy to find another walking partner. After saying this you might imagine I'd be choosing #3 or lower, but the fact is that I had never heard of the Camino before seeing the movie and it was the main reason I decided to walk it. I guess I had led too sheltered a life before.

Lew Sherman 2019 (May to June)
 
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Years ago i watched The Way, must of been when it hadn't been out very long. I don’t actually remember much of it and haven’t watched it since. But 15/20 mins into that movie, i wanted to walk the Camino, and in September i’m finally going to do it
Can’t say the movie was very memorable, but the dream it inspired has stayed with me!
 
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Camino Chrissy said:
I truly do not understand the animosity some have towards this entertaining film, with its uplifting and redemptive ending, even if it fails to tick all the boxes of authenticity some are looking for.
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And others truly don't understand the love.

It's totally OK not to understand each other - that's a pretty normal human condition, after all. But where threads go off the rails about this (or anything - from poles to pack transfer to what's a pilgrim and what's a tourist) is when people take that puzzlement and impute that there's something bad about people who have another opinion or experience. There's not.
 
Evan Lacer said:
Yes, I wish so too.

Unfortunately, all of the main characters are so unlikeable - in my opinion - that I just could not become sufficiently interested/invested to care about their transformations.
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And WHY do you think Emilio/Marty MADE them unlikeable? (particularly the sad character of Sarah) A clue is from the director himself who says the movie is about Americans "have lost the plot".

And "transformations"? there were NONE - sarah kept smoking and said these things never work and fatman went off to buy that new suit and Jack from Ireland just got writers block back

As for Tom he emptied the ashes onto the rocks and threw the plastic bag into the sea to kill a few more dolphins.

Then Emilio shows a brilliant final clip of Tom in Morocco with a stupid "doco scarf" walking into the camera which was a very clever nod to his own National Lampoon role as Colt where he does a high 5 with Luger and they yell out "SEQUEL".

Now we need to wait for the sequel but it seems Emillio is going to be true to his word and transform Tom into IMPROVING himself for OTHERS as a Fred Hollows type of aid worker.

He sets the stage for that early on where the gendarme tells Tom you don't walk the Camino for others - you do it for YOURSELF
 
OldDog7 said:
I plan to watch, The Way, this weekend for my 58th birthday as I plan to Camino on my 60th. I heard the movie was not filmed on location, except for a couple of places. Does this detract from the authenticity of the film?
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The film was made entirely on location, although it is true that one scene was filmed ‘off track’. You can be assured that the landscapes and even the interiors are authentic.
 
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PS. Some of the old hands might have wondered where I'd got to. I came upon this thread 14 hours after it went up, and was astonished to find that it already had accumulated 89 posts. Then, on reflection, I wasn't. Any mention of "The Way" always gets people typing. The poll results so far don't surprise me in the least, although perhaps I did expect a higher percentage in #5, but that obviously reflects my own bias.
 
The first time I saw it I was inspired to walk the Camino. I then went and bought the dvd, and have watched that once and showed it to friends once (who liked it, thinking beforehand it was going to be a soppy flick). It came onto one of our TV channels in Australia a few months back, and I watched it again. No need for more, as I am committed to the Portugese in April. Buen camino.
 
Wow this film certainly generates all the feels…111 posts so far! I’m saving my opinion for the poll. But it’s fun to read the reviews—I mean—responses. Anyone want to comment on how the movie Wild stacks up to walking the actual PCT? (Kidding! That question belongs in a completely different forum!)
 
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Yes Sarah IS a nightmare but may I ask if you have any ideas about who Emilio/Marty based her character upon?
 
As an aside, My nephew in the UK was working on production for a Netflix crime series. I heard that he was going out to dinner with James Nesbit, one of the leads. I quickly messaged him "Ask about The Way!". The response from Jimmy was that making the film was the best experience he'd had in the business.
 
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I had not heard of the film until I read about it here on the forum when I was researching my first Camino. I watched it before I left and again a couple of years later. I found it very enjoyable even though it was not the Camino as I had found it. The Camino Family aspect I felt was overdone. I will watch it again sometime.
 
I'm actually agree with some of your critique, but not about the main character, who's internal journey I find totally convincing. Somehow, the film's flaws don't bother me (except perhaps Jack's monologue). And I have to say that, for me, having a drink on arrival takes precedent over laundry.
 
The poster seems merely to express a sense of puzzlement. I think you may have inferred that they were making a judgment of people as bad for not liking the film but it wasn’t, I believe, implied.
 
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OMG! Your comments brought me to tears, J.
 
Camo said:
And "transformations"? there were NONE - sarah kept smoking and said these things never work and fatman went off to buy that new suit and Jack from Ireland just got writers block back.
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Did we watch the same film, @Camo?
Sarah had a huge transformation, having opened up for the first time in her life about her true anguish about aborting her child. I found her conversation with Tom very moving, and indeed Tom's reaction to her.
Jack, quote, in the pilgrim office: "I had writer's block and now I'm writing again".
Joost was possibly the one who didn't need a transformation, but his humility in the entrance to the Cathedral was perfect.
 
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Peter Fransiscus said:
Why fatman????? His name is Joost.
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Sarah started it with her tirade to Tom calling him Boomer accusing him of all manner of illegal acts for which he was now "doing penance". By then Tom and Joost had an "understanding" and as Joost kept referring to his fat problem Tom called him fatman AND it was taken as a "term of endearment" as such things happen between blokes.

The venom as used by Sarah was totally absent AND Sarah was out by 10 years as Tom was well and truly in the silent generation and HAD THE RIGHT to remain silent, but was denied by all, even the viewers.
 
My reply: it is just a movie. A personal interpretation of one scriptwriter and one director.
Not a documentary.

Do you think that every time I happen to watch the Sound of Music, I would wear a Dirndl dress and start singing " Edelweiss"? Nope.
 
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Erm … what am I missing about the black and white scarf that a fictive American tourist is wearing in a movie while walking around in Marrakesh?

I noticed it, too, and took it as a sign that this fictive person had “loosened up” and had turned into a backpack carrying world traveller, and he did so at a mature age.

I myself bought an indigo Berber scarf after my first walking trip to the Moroccan part of the Sahara, and I found it ultra cool, too. Also at a mature age.
 
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The main aspect of this movie I liked was the "structure" which Emilio and Marty came up with for Emilio's first big direction project. All new directors try to aspire to the genius of Clint Eastwood eg M Night Shyamalan

There is only one Clint movie where he kills himself but that was at the end of Gran Torino where he lies there in the sign of the cross as a gesture of apology (for America) to the Vietnam mob who had to come to America cuz of war in Vietnam (which is obviously a PC no go zone here so I won't go into details).

In this movie Emilio kills himself at the START of the movie hence changing the whole structure from another boring dad and son flogging their way across Spain together with all manner of "meaningful interactions"

But he throws in a montage of "if only" visions of himself at various stages of the quest. In this way he allows his father to FULLY relive his acting abilities from 30 years before in AN without interference from himself, while in fact giving US a Clint/Coppola combination that to me was pure genius.
 
Camo said:
The venom as used by Sarah was totally absent AND Sarah was out by 10 years as Tom was well and truly in the silent generation and HAD THE RIGHT to remain silent, but was denied by all, even the viewers.
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Tom was a boomer because the scriptwriter wrote it that way. Martin Sheen’s actual age is not relevant.
This was not by any means Emilio’s first movie as director. “Bobby” is a good example, and his dad was in that too.
 
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it is just a movie
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Indeed. It needs to be pointed out from time to time that it is just a movie, otherwise we are in danger of losing the plot in this thread.

Tom Avery is not a real person. He is a fictive person in a movie. He is an ophthalmologist. He has one son who died. We don’t know whether he has any other children (or do we?). We don’t know his birthday. Not the day, not the month, not the year. (Or do we?)

Martin Sheen is a real person. He is an actor. He has three sons and a daughter. All of them alive. His birthday is August 3, 1940.
 
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Kathar1na said:
Yes, Martin Sheen will be 84 this year. And still working as an ophthalmologist with Doctors Without Borders in a remote part of Nigeria! Respect!

At least if the sequel to The Way is filmed later this year.
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Or they poach the plot of I'll Push You and make it a wheelchair pilgrimage. But Tom dies before getting to Santiago - and his old buddies, reunited in grief, fling his ashes in the sea as father and son are reunited in death?

But I like @Kathar1na's version better.
 
A friend (not knowing I was planning to do the Frances for my sixtieth) gave me the film as a Christmas present back in 2003. First time round I was intrigued and greatly moved by it, but since completing that Camino in 2004. I have found myself wanting to occasionally watch it again as the years have gone by (and 3 more Caminos on) especially when trying to explain the 'hard to put into words' magic of the Camino experience to friends or relations (my kids didn't get to see the film with me until I was safely back from that first one!). I am interested however to dispassionately note that every time I re-watch it I find myself - despite myself- very emotional and in tears at some point - and at never the same point! Recently, as I began to concretely plan the Vezeley route to mark my Seventieth birthday this year, the relevant line from the French Gendarme near the beginning of the film leapt completely uninvited into my mind and brought a smile to my face! All my Caminos have been so different from one another, and yet the same...like siblings who each have their own personality and foibles yet which are so obviously related to each other. The film, for me at least, has captured something very genuine about an extraordinary phenomenon that, in my experience has been so very much more multi-faceted and life-enhancing than any film could ever hope to portray. Yet the film captures it enough to still have the ability to move me to tears on the occasions I decide to rewatch it. Will I watch it again before my next Camino? Yes, probably - and probably with friends who want to know why I'm just about to do yet another crazy long distance Camino!! Buen Camino to all, irrespective of whether you like the film or not!
 
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I think we have already established that +/- 10 years don’t matter but just to avoid confusion: The movie The Way, directed by Emilio Estevez and starring Martin Sheen as Tom Avery was filmed in September, October and November 2009, and the first public viewings were in 2010.
 
If you watch it to the end you’ll see how he changes and the fact that they often take the piss out of themselves being American. Sort of the point.
 
@Kathar1na I think you underestimate the mystical qualities of the movie which transcend ordinary notions of time and space. In 2016 in Melide I met a devotee of the film who told me I should appreciate it more because without the movie I would never have heard of the Camino. Up until then I was under the mistaken impression that I had first heard and read about the Camino Frances in 1985 and first walked it in 1990. Twenty years before the release date. Receiving a copy of the movie in 2003 is childsplay compared to that....
 
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Bradypus said:
In 2016 in Melide I met a devotee of the film who told me I should appreciate it more because without the movie I would never have heard of the Camino
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What did you say in response?
(Or did you just look at them as though they had two heads?)
 
VNwalking said:
What did you say in response?
(Or did you just look at them as though they had two heads?)
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I pointed out that I had walked a Camino years before the film came out and asked how a 2010 film could have inspired a 1990 Camino. He simply walked away without answering. He had also included the dozen or more pilgrims in sight in his assumption that we all only learned of the Camino because of the movie though I have no reason to believe he had asked any of them their back stories either. He was very excitable and not completely rational. I think he simply assumed that everyone must have had the same experience as himself. A not uncommon delusion that one is the centre of the world and the model for everyone else!
 
I first learned about the Camino while listening to a Saturday morning Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) radio show called The Radio Show. Over a series of weeks, the host, Jack Farr, interviewed a fellow from Canada who was walking the Way. This was back in the late 1980s. I was so struck by what I heard that I took some notes - - which I didn't come across again until after I had walked the VdlP in 2008. So much fun to look back on those notes! All that said, I really don't care for the movie The Way. Much prefer Seven Ways to Santiago which is more of a documentary, with quite a mixture of walkers with a variety of backgrounds and reasons for walking.
 
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@Ditts said:
If you watch it to the end you’ll see how he changes and the fact that they often take the piss out of themselves being American. Sort of the point.
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Sorry, can’t be bothered. There are so many good movies to watch.
 
The daughter to Martin is "Doreen" in The Way. Now when I watch the movie the character Tom has a daughter because I'm easily confused.
 
Whenever I watch any of the films or videos of any of the caminos, I find that I am focusing more on what is happening in the background, eg, what the Cafe looks like, what the pilgrims are wearing, what the path looks like, weather etc.
 
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I love the movie "The Way". I rewatch that movie, "I'll Push You" and "Six Ways to Santiago" all quite often. I have read the book that Emilio Estevez drew a lot of stories from "Off the Road" by Jack Tripp for the movie it was funny. My only problem with "The Way" is I think how tore up Martin Sheen's characters feet would be with no pre training and shoe breakin efforts.
It is fun to see that Emilios sister is the opthalmologist office secretary, and his brother Ramon has an uncredited scene at the end walking behind his dad in the market.
 
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Interesting. I know Laurie Dennett was interviewed on Canadian radio when she was walking her first Camino, I think around 1986, raising money for MS (as described in her book A Hug for the Apostle). I didn't know a fellow had done so as well.
 
Bradypus said:
In 2016 in Melide I met a devotee of the film who told me I should appreciate it more because without the movie I would never have heard of the Camino.
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Although I didn't know about the Camino way back in the 80s or 90s, it wasn't the movie, "The Way" that led me to it. It was a presentation by another student in a Spanish class that made me aware. But who knows, maybe the movie inspired him. So perhaps I was inspired by "The Way" indirectly.
 
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Beautiful.
 
I happened to find a postcard yesterday that someone had written to me from their Camino while walking through Pamplona and Navarra. It is from 2004. Written proof that I knew of Camino walking already then.

So many possibilities for new polls: Did you hear of walking the Camino de Santiago before 2010 or after 2010? Did The Way inspire you to walk? Are you a Boomer?

I see that 261 forum members have voted to date. I think that is a high participation rate for polls on the forum. More than 80% of those who voted “absolutely love the movie” or “find it enjoyable”. Coincidence of course, but that is also the approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes, for both their Tomatometer (professional reviewers) and their Audience Score.
 
Joost
And track 19 of the OST.
transcendant and echo in the secret deep places of a damaged person looking for a reason...or a modicum of redemtion.

Fractured and walking with all the sharp pieces grinding together inside, and trying to put them in some order so where he wouldnt hurt simply breathing...
But then all of them were broken or shattered in some form or another...the commonality of consanguination ...they were bloody and bleeding and hobbled to where one needs another to staunch the flows..long enough in miles and time to heal.
There is a special magic, a melancholy and redemption for the miles.

In the end..are we sand grains among the sands?
A sandstone sitting in the surf awaiting dissolution and return to innocence.

Seen the movie about once a year

The idea of a Camino family is unrealistic, how do you maintain an autonomy of experience with demands for time.
if my body holds up from the spine issues, maybe when ime 60
Maybe ill be rid of the cynicism
 
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ChrissyandElise said:
And now when people ask me what on earth I'm doing next, I have a movie to point to. At least so they can have a sense of it all.
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I still haven't seen 'The Way', but if you want to show something to people to capture why you're going: For me, this is the very essence of the Camino

rojasa said:
Anyone want to comment on how the movie Wild stacks up to walking the actual PCT?
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Ok, I can't comment on how it stacks up to the actual PCT, but I will say that for me 'Wild' was pivotal in walking the Camino. It got me started thinking about walking again. The PCT went on my bucket list ( it's still there). And, years later, when I came across Nadine's YouTube's on the Camino last year it made me realize that perhaps it was possible to walk without carrying my own version of 'Monster'. I walked the Inglés three months later, the Primitivo three months after that, & I've since started walking the Jakobsweg here in Germany.
So, without even seeing it - I can see how 'The Way' could resonate for some people
 
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Quotes from an earlier thread:
I'm always amazed how many people don't credit Jack Hitt for the inspiration behind "The Way".
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I have read Jack Hitt's book but, as usual with books I've read, I don't remember much.

He talks about his walk to Santiago in an interview given in 1995, pre-The Way. He talks of shelters and not albergues, and of tribes and not Camino families, and of the pilgrims he was surprised to meet and who had come from Italy, Belgium and Wales, and of transformation.

I do think that the script for The Way has a lot more to do with Jack Hitt's book than with the Wizard of Oz.

In 1991, Jack Hitt was a writer and senior editor in New York and he was somehow dissatisfied with his job and his life situation, and that prompted him to go on the walk to Santiago long before it became fashionable. But apparently he had already "first walked this pilgrim's route in 1981 while he was bumming around Europe for a year". And he had heard about the Camino to Santiago at his university when he took a Spanish class in 1979 or so.

The movie "The Way" looms huge on this forum but it is just a minor factor in making the Camino de Santiago known to the hundreds of thousands who walk every year and who have walked since the 1950s when the Camino de Santiago started its new life.
 
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Kathar1na said:
The movie "The Way" looms huge on this forum but it is just a minor factor in making the Camino de Santiago known to the hundreds of thousands who walk every year and who have walked since the 1950s when the Camino de Santiago started its new life.
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This is a valuable reality check. The Way looms large on this forum - for some but not all. Many of us came to the Camino long before watching it.

And if the poll is any indication, a minority of about 17% here either dislike or are indifferent to it.
 
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Absoutely. The notion of pilgrimage is deeply woven into western culture. If anything, it is woven even deeper into the culture of Protestant countries than Roman Catholic countries: numerous poets of the Reformation reference it e.g. Raleigh, Campion, Spencer and Bunyan. Bunyan, of course, wrote one of the greatest affirmations of Christian faith ´A Pilgrim´s Progress ´as well as our school hymn: ´Who would true valour see, let him come hither´. One of the first English speaking settlements in North America (and the most celebrated) was a community of Puritans who called themselves ´The Pilgrim Fathers´. Growing up in England, there were paths in every village called ´The Pilgrim´s Way´, we studied Chaucer´s ´Canterbury Tales´ and if we were Welsh (and sometimes even if we weren´t) we´d sing the great Cwm Rhondda ´Guide me O thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land´, a hymn to send shivers up your spine even to think of it.
 
ChrissyandElise said:
@Peterexpatkiwi thank you. This short video is perfect.
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Really lovely video!! Really connected with that. Nice music too, and lovely narration. Thanks for sharing @Peterexpatkiwi. Captures it very simplistically and to a tee!

Not seen ‘The Way’ either. I will see If I can find it online. I heard about the Camino because a friend mentioned in a pub one night. A few years later was in Porto at start of Covid wondering how to occupy myself as had been furloughed and remembered the conversation so off I went next day! Enjoyed it so did the Frances a few weeks later as still furloughed! Funny old world!!

Edit: Managed to rent it for £2.49!
 
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dick bird said:
Absoutely. The notion of pilgrimage is deeply woven into western culture. If anything, it is woven even deeper into the culture of Protestant countries than Roman Catholic countries:
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True but paradoxically the Protestant use of pilgrimage has been almost entirely metaphorical rather than literal. The actual practice of pilgrimage was actively suppressed by many Protestant churches. Too closely allied to the cult of the saints and relics and other suspect thinking! For example it is only a few years since the Church of Scotland officially abandoned its long-defunct official policy of opposing pilgrimage as a superstitious practice and actively embraced it.
 
I don't think I could say the film on its own inspired me to want to walk the Camino, but it was certainly one of the things that added to the desire to. My love affair with the Camino was sparked probably before the film existed on our many road trips across NW Spain, and this led me to eventually find the film.

It has however had a massive impact on my wider circle of those close to me. The below would not have happened without this movie.

When my adopted father in-law (Lyndon) was diagnosed with the C, and we knew his time was limited, we would every Sunday go round to his house and project films on to the living room wall (they were old school with no TV). The first film we watched was The Way, and this then turned in to a weekly Camino obsession where along with watching The Way again we watched many other Camino related documentaries and films (I Will Push You etc). Often with some tapas type snacks and occasional guinness.

It had a big effect on my father in-law. There is something about the idea of the Camino that is redemptive, uplifting, inspiring and soothing in that it can give you sense that there is magic left in the world, and because of this hope that the end is not the end (in a religious or spiritual way and obviously of course not for everyone). For me, and others The Way captures this in varying degrees and lights a spark.

These afternoons and the Camino provided great comfort and interest to my father in-law, and often his grandson Harry (my godson) who was 12 at the time would join us as well as my adopted mother in-law (Dinah). These are some of my fondest memories, and these days brought us all closer, and it started with this film.

As the end was creeping ever closer me and my godson went and collected a selection of stones from Lyndons favourite beaches, he and Dinah chose two each. One would be for Cruz de Ferro, and as per the tradition represented any burden/regrets he still carried (which I can't imagine could be many), and the other was to go into the sea at Finisterre – in a way meaning they both got to do the Camino in some way. An idea inspired by the film.

Whilst I walked the Camino because of the loss of Flora my dog, I carried the stones to Cruz de Ferro (as well as one of my own). I didn't want to take them without my Godson been there, but I compromised and took the stones for Cruz de Ferro. One day Harry and myself will deliver the other stones of his grandparents to the waters of Finisterre (maybe after the Primitivo this summer).

So yes, The Way touches people by the many ways it portrays and symbolises the Camino, but not all people. And that is the beauty of life, we are all different.

 
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Well, the case with scripted movies is that they're, well, scripted. So, when walking the Camino Francés in real life, one might find that the real thing isn't like the movie.

Or, in other words: if I ever get the chance to visit the forest moon of Endor, I will most likely find out that there aren't any Ewoks at all.

For those of you not familiar with the Star Wars movies: check out "Return of the Jedi".

That having said, one can (or not) enjoy the movie in itself.
 
ApproachingBliss said:
The daughter to Martin is "Doreen" in The Way. Now when I watch the movie the character Tom has a daughter because I'm easily confused.
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For the benefit of those who were initially as puzzled as I was: I googled.

I now know that Doreen who is the secretary of Tom Avery is also Renée Estevez who is the daughter of Martin Sheen.

I am obviously not a movie buff and I have obviously not seen The Way often enough.
 
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Thank you for that. I'm not a movie buff but I do love movies, The Way in particular.
I have seen the movie dozens of times but I just never get enough of it. I did see some interviews with Martin, and found out I like his personality and I didn't know I would. Renee might have been mentioned in some interviews with Martin or his son or both.
 
Another of Martin's three sons Ramon is in an uncredited scene walking behind his father during the ending scene of the movie where Martin is walking in the market with the scarf.
 
vwzoo said:
Another of Martin's three sons Ramon is in an uncredited scene walking behind his father during the ending scene of the movie where Martin is walking in the market with the scarf.
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WOW thank you! I'll have to see that! Now I have to see it again right away.
 
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ApproachingBliss said:
I'm not a movie buff but I do love movies, The Way in particular.
I have seen the movie dozens of times but I just never get enough of it.
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I loved the movie and have seen it 3-4 times in 9 years and own a copy. If I watched it too often I think it would probably lose some of its appeal for me; becoming more ho-hum for me; a reason I rarely watch it.
 
Camino Chrissy said:
I loved the movie and have seen it 3-4 times in 9 years and own a copy. If I watched it too often I think it would probably lose some of its appeal for me; becoming more ho-hum for me; a reason I rarely watch it.
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We also have the sound track and Phil often listens to it in the mornings when he is puttering around the house. (Also listens to Gregorian chanting soundtrack.) Makes the Camino feel closer when we are home.
 
davejsy said:
I love this video too, and often point people towards it!
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I always considered this a perfect introduction to the camino for those who are on the fence and need some extra motivation. It's brief, fun to watch, touches on so many aspects of the camino but never gets bogged down in detail.

My only caveat is that the caminos I walked for so many years were long ones, unsupported. In training wannabe peregrinos, as I refer to them, I have noticed that in recent years, even as the number has increased dramatically, most of these are walking one week fully supported.

I never, ever say that there is a right way or a wrong way, only different ways. But the reality is that what is needed in terms of gear and practice before a long unsupported camino bears no resemblance to what is needed for a short, fully supported camino, often with a group and group leader. And what is experienced bears some resemblance to this video, but only some.
 
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I first watched the movie more than ten years ago when I ran across the DVD on Amazon I think whilst I was shopping for a Camino Frances guidebook. I had never heard of the movie before then and I think it had been out for a year already. It looked interesting enough and I included it in my order.
I found the movie to be good, and I've watched it a couple of times. I certainly never looked upon it as a primer on how to walk the Camino, nor did I expect it to be realistic in its depiction of pilgrims, their clothing, equipment etc. Also I didn't care less that it was geographically off in its depiction of the Frances. I see it strictly as entertainment and not a documentary. It's simply a relationship between a father and son and the Camino Frances is its backdrop. The same relationship and tragedy could have the Appalachian Trail for a backdrop, or anything similar.
I have watched a couple of interviews with Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen and they do seem sincere in their personal purpose for making the movie. It's obvious it was never made to be a commercial hit, success to a wide range of audience. Nonetheless it has what would be described by some as a cult following, as are many lesser known movies. Very few people I know who are not Camino knowledgeable have ever heard of the movie.
If I were to rate the movie I'd give it an 8-9/10. Probably my biggest beef with the movie was an overuse of stereotypes. Mind you I know that stereotypes exist because people who match them exist, but they laid it on a bit thick in their depictions.
 
Bradypus said:
It may not be the director's principal message but that formation of a "Camino family" (dreadful phrase!) is a key feature in SJLM too. The various characters and sub-plots eventually interacting and becoming entangled.
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I understand why the movies about the Camino depict the "Camino family" shtick. It's because it's needed in order to have a plot with multiple main characters. Unfortunately some first time pilgrims feel that if they don't do the Camino family thing they're missing out somehow. I've even met pilgrims who said they feel pressured to find one. How sad.
 
vwzoo said:
Another of Martin's three sons Ramon is in an uncredited scene walking behind his father during the ending scene of the movie where Martin is walking in the market with the scarf.
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I also understand that Taylor Estevez who is Martin Sheen's grandson is in the movie but we don't see him. The scene is explained in an interview here. Search for the word "morgue".
 
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RJM said:
I understand why the movies about the Camino depict the "Camino family" shtick. It's because it's needed in order to have a plot with multiple main characters.
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But it is also a very real thing for many on the Camino, not just a film plot. Of course, it won't turn out that way for everyone, and a film is just a film and expectations should never be set on such, that cannot be blamed on a film or other people's experiences.
 
RJM said:
Unfortunately some first time pilgrims feel that if they don't do the Camino family thing they're missing out somehow. I've even met pilgrims who said they feel pressured to find one. How sad.
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davejsy said:
But it is also a very real thing for many on the Camino, not just a film plot
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There wasn't really any popular concept of a 'Camino family' when I walked my first Camino. Probably because pilgrims were too thin on the ground. I think most of us who arrived solo then expected to stay that way for the duration with just occasional interactions with others. As someone who values solitude I've never really warmed to the concept. Perhaps part of why the movie does not particularly appeal to me - not how I see or experience the Caminos for myself.
 
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Kristen Alvarez said:
Was it just me, or did anyone else think it was a little similar to The Wizard of Oz?
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Bradypus said:
Not just you. Emilio Estevez has said a number of times that the film is deliberately modelled on 'The Wizard of Oz'.
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So.... all we need to do now is watch it with Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" for a soundtrack and the circle would be complete, no?!
 
CWBuff said:
all we need to do now is watch it with Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" for a soundtrack and the circle would be complete, no?!
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Another comment I did not get . I had to google again. Oh horror of horrors. I had no idea. Compare The Way to The Wizard of Oz all you want but hands off The Dark Side of the Moon!!!

Phew: Unlike the makers of The Way who appear to support this narrative of a connection with an old movie for kiddies, the makers of The Dark Side of the Moon have called such a connection "absolute nonsense" and "the product of some guy with too much time on his hands" and other words that I won't repeat.

I also learnt a new word: Apophenia – the tendency to perceive connections between unrelated things.
 
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Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Kathar1na said:
FWIW, I believe that the term "Camino family" has been adapted, or adopted, from "trail family", which comes from the long-distance hiking subculture on the long-distance trails in the USA.
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I think what interests me more is the concept itself rather than the terminology. Where has the idea of walking the Camino in spontaneously created and transitory friendship groups come from? Rather than walking solo or with existing friends or family? And why has it grown so strong in the popular understanding of a Camino that some people now assume it is the norm and fear exclusion from a 'Camino family' or alternatively feel pressure to join one?
 
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Of course I can unquestionably draw a parallel between Pilgrims and "The Way" vs ACW Re-enactors\Living Historians and "Gettysburg".... If anything, both are known as "The Movie" (well... DA Movie in latter ) and chances are if that's all you said\referenced - that's all you would need to do.
That said - I cannot even begin to tell you how many arguments there were about who or what was portrayed in the movie and how and why and "wrong" vs "right"> Ironically, it was Martin Sheen's portrayal of Rob't E. Lee that always sparked the most heated arguments. Those who were forever inflicted by Lee-llulitis" (same as Sello-litis from the other thread) and counted them as staunch Lee's Disciples were arguing with froth on their lips that "that is just NOT Rob't E. LEE!!!!!" ( as if they truly knew the man personally).
Those of us who were a tad more down to Earth always tried to point out that it is just a movie which itself is based on a book (Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels - 1975 Pulitzer Prize for those who are not familiar) and THAT in itself is a HISTORICAL FICTION!!!!
One of the characters is a soldier named "Buster" Kilrain who serves with (or really under) Col. Chamberlain in the 20th ME Regiment. (what also makes it ironic is that he is the only fictional character in the novel). Buster gets mortally wounded during the Battle for the Little Round Top and dies next day....
... And I've met plenty-a-folk who are very (and I mean VERY) upset that his name is not on the 20th ME monument at the site of the engagement or that he is not buried either in Evergreen Cemetery (town's cemetery - still active as such in todays time, but had a number of initial soldiers' burials there immediately after the battle) or in Gettysburg National Cemetery....
Yup! Go figure....

(Sorry for a bit of ACW History sprinkled somewhat with Gettysburg Lore)

P.S> MOVIE.... FICTION!
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I'm sorry... I just dont see where are you going with this....

SabsP said:
Do you think that every time I happen to watch the Sound of Music, I would wear a Dirndl dress and start singing " Edelweiss"? Nope.
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OH! The stories I (and I am sure others) can tell about "the REAL Sound of Music" where nobody climbed every (or any) mountain to escape the bad Nazis....

Just as FYI the von Trapps settled in my city (Philadelphia) after arriving to US and before they settled in Vermont...

but I digress... So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu....
 
I enjoyed the Movie. We watched it about this time last year after someone mentioned it on this forum . I already had my plans in place for my first Camino , flights booked etc, for May. My Wife who has little interest in walking or any form of fitness for that matter was totally against me going. ''Why are you going solo'' Why do you want to walk for two weeks'' and the like. WE watched the film together and at the end she turned to me and said '' I get it now'' so sort of a thumbs up.
I'm returning in May and now I'm getting '' you've already done that why again''
When does the Sequel come out? We may have to watch a rerun or I get a new Wife.
 
Are we not in danger of over thinking a phrase which merely refers to some people you meet that you decide you like and choose to walk with if you all so wish? I don't see anything strange about that.

People's preconceived expectations in relation to this is a personal issue. Would it be any better if we swapped "Camino family" for "Some people I met"? It's just a phrase.
 
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Agree but I can see why people find nauseating, and some folks seem to think that it is something they need to aspire to and not having a family somehow detracts from the experience. Maybe not many, but some! I have only heard the phrase on here tbh, not on the Camino!!!!

The meeting people thing is obv huge in ‘backpacking life’ full stop, just not labelled as such!
 
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I loved the movie and watched before my Camino. I didn’t expect my Camino to be like the movie, and nothing about my Camino reminded me of the movie.
 
I've voted for 2, although I did rewatch it, very recently. I watched it well after walking all of my caminos (to date), mainly to see how closely it followed "Off the Road" by Jack Hitt, on which the film was supposedly loosely based. The only scene which I remember the book and film having in common was the peculiar 'refugio' in Torres del Rio, from which Martin Sheen and co. fled fairly rapidly. I found "The Way" pretty cheesy, but enjoyable in its way, mainly for reminding me of the scenery.

Another camino film, which I have rewatched more often, is the 'semi-documentary' 'Within the Way Without' (aka 'Tres en el Camino'). This has some toe-curlingly cheesy moments, particularly when the director inserts himself in the narrative, but also some occurrences which I found genuinely moving. I also identified quite strongly with the gloomy 'Winter Pilgrim' and appreciated the more realistic depiction of the downside of walking the Camino, e.g. bad preparation, overblown expectations, 'nuisance' pilgrims, etc. It also featured a lot more of the real-life local people who live on the Camino, many of whom I met on my first walk, so that is another reason I enjoy rewatching it.
 
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CWBuff said:
@Bad Pilgrim - but perhaps you will "nevermind" what the people say and sit down and watch it and make your own conclusion?
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Yeah, but the past ten years I have been reading things like: "When Joost chased the pig down the hills to El Acebo was such an empowering scene" or "When Sarah played the accordion at Cruz de Ferro to face her traumas was such a life-changing moment for me" or "When Tom clog danced with the old lady at the bar in Bizkarreta I knew I had to walk the Camino" and I'm like .......................................................
 
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I would first politely ask you if YOU have worked out why you are wanting to do it again. You don't have to give her the same answer but it seems you should work that out first before you take on the wife
 
That is funny. But to be fair that is not what you have been reading - unless you have been reading different threads than I have.

From memory that's what gets mentioned most often:
  • "You don't choose a life, you live one."
  • "I'm Jack. Jack from Ireland." (*)
  • the thing about the (supposed?) difference between tapas and pintxos when ordering snacks in English in Pamplona
  • that backpacks might get stolen in Burgos
  • that the backpack fell into the wrong river
  • something being out of sequence with the Orisson scene
  • that they are wearing jeans
I think these are the main points.

(*) Somebody quoted a version of this to me at a chance meeting on the Camino Francés and expected me to say something like "Oh, The Way, love that movie" but I had no clue what the person was referring to.
 
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Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Takahiwai said:
Another camino film, which I have rewatched more often, is the 'semi-documentary' 'Within the Way Without' (aka 'Tres en el Camino').
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Can't believe theres a Camino film I've not heard of! Will be looking this up this weekend!
 
lovelyshell said:
I loved the movie and watched before my Camino. I didn’t expect my Camino to be like the movie, and nothing about my Camino reminded me of the movie.
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That makes perfect sense to me @lovelyshell , and I suspect many people have had the same experience. Just because you like or even love a film - and are perhaps even inspired by it - doesn't mean you can't distinguish between fiction and reality. I had walked the Frances twice before I watched the film, so it did not factor into my motivation or inspiration for walking. And later, when I watched it, I enjoyed it - but it did not have any impact on or relevance to my later caminos. But I still enjoyed this fictional story and would not be averse to watching it again one day and/or a sequel if it eventuates.

Edited to add: and if for some people the film has given hope when it was sorely needed or inspired an undertaking what turns out to be a wonderful experience for them - e.g. the beautiful story from @Brooklinn below and others on this thread - what’s not to love about that.
 
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I first watched this movie sometime after it’s release without knowing the spark it lit would have a profound outcome on my life. I first heard about the Camino in high school during a course on religious history (1975). However, it was the film that brought the idea of a pilgrimage into focus. I found the movie inspiring, and the portrayal of a grieving father on his quest compelling. Then in 2013 I was diagnosed with cancer and the surgery to remove it was extremely complicated and potentially lethal. I was told that meditation would help me remain calm and centered while waiting a month for the surgery. They suggested I envision my future in one year, ten years, twenty years etc. I began seeing myself walking the Camino in one year, walking again in ten years with my soon to be born grandson, and in twenty years with any future grandchildren. I survived the surgery and rising from the bed for the first time asked my daughter for a hand to “walk the Camino” to the bathroom. I explained my vision and friends and family quickly got onboard, each helping me “walk the Camino”. Every day I was able to walk just a bit further, to the front door, down the drive way, across the street, and around the block. Three months later I was in SJPP beginning a journey of 500 miles. That first Camino grounded me for what was to come. For nearly eight more years I fought to survive and overcome severe and debilitating illness. Yet, through it all, I still focused on my vision of walking the Camino with my grandson. Last May 2023 we found ourselves in SJPP in the very same Albergue I began in 10 years previous. The vision became reality. Now my 3 year old grandson is begging to walk the Camino. I smile as the elder grandson assures him that when he is 10 years old we will take him too. It was the movie that inspired me to first walk, and once you walk….well, you all know that leads to so much more. The movie is just a story, a story that lit a spark. I am grateful that Emilio and his father are storytellers who wove a story about one man’s heartbreak and transformation on the Camino, attempted to capture just a bit of the possibilities and feel of the walk, actually filmed it on one of the many routes, and then shared it with us.
 
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What a beautiful and inspiring story - thank you for sharing. I wish you the best for your future Caminos
 
I have been thinking about the CF since 1968 and walked first time in 2014

Nice to see it afterwards and I love to revisit the small world it portrays.

Everything come with a premise:
This is a film about A camino, not THE Camino..
These are fictional characters, each given a certain role as lined out by Estevez, asthe characters from the Wizzard of OZ....
There are inconsistencies, yes: the bags have no weight, but it is JUST a movie...not gospel..
( re walking poles: notice how Joost walk perfect and correctly with his poles, a few days in, now in a wrong manner to add to his character , they were filming continuously as they went along...)

I have copies, bought cheaply online, that circulates in my circle of friends, they want a sniff of what I do...
 
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Kathar1na said:
I do think that the script for The Way has a lot more to do with Jack Hitt's book than with the Wizard of Oz.
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I've just finished reading the Jack Hitt book. There are a couple of incidents and conversations which made it into the film in amended form but I didn't see very much overlap between the book and the movie. Although there was a lot in the book that was very familiar to me I found the crowds, the massive bed race and almost refugee-camp atmosphere in Galicia that Hitt describes towards the end totally different from my own very solitary experience just three years earlier. But the book is describing a journey during the remarkable Holy Year in 1993 when numbers were 20x greater than in 1990 and 10x greater than in 1992! Back when there were real Holy Years not like the pale wishy-washy imitations you get these days....
 
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