‘The Way’ leads us to a road (path) less traveled. Actor-writer-director-producer Emilio Estevez tells a story of a journey. It is a journey Estevez’s father, Martin Sheen, takes playing Tom Avery, a doctor who goes to France following the death of his son, killed in the Pyrenees during a storm while walking the Camino de Santiago, a catholic pilgrimage. At first, Tom’s purpose is simply to retrieve his son’s body. However, the story takes a dramatic turn. In order to deal with his loss and to pay homage to his son, Tom decides to walk the same ancient spiritual trail where his son died in order to understand his son better. This is one of Martin Sheen’s finest performances of his career.
In my last interview, Emilio Estevez commented that Tom’s journey is similar to Dorothy’s journey in the film classic, ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Tom’s journey is a painful one but he reveals small waves of warmth and humor through the way. His companions include Yorick van Wageningen, a pot-smoking Dutch man trying to shed a few pounds (representing the Scarecrow). Deborah Kara Unger plays a high-strung and bitter Canadian (representing the Tin Man). Finally, James Nesbitt plays a verbose Irish travel writer (representing the Cowardly Lion).
‘The Way’ had a long and successful journey playing at my local cinematheque in downtown, Boise, The Flicks theatre. According to the theatre owner, ‘Audiences loved ‘The Way.’ For those who missed it at theatres, ‘The Way’ will be available on VOD (Video on Demand) Feb. 9th via FilmBuff and DVD on Feb. 21st. Here is the second part to my interview with Emilio Estevez:
ME – Was making ‘The Way’ a cathartic experience for you, especially working so closely with your father?
Emilio – Absolutely, it is a very personal story but yet has universal themes that many of us struggle through in life. It is a story of a father losing his son but it also has to do with humanity. It was a very challenging film to make on location along the Camino. I had a very scaled down crew and equipment.
ME – I liked the way you filmed with the natural lighting.
Emilio – Thank you. Because we were filming on location, we had bare bones equipment. Many DP’s would have pulled their hair out if they saw our equipment truck but we made it work.
ME – Well done, indeed. I like the running themes throughout the film. I watched an interview where you said, “Be okay in your own skin.” I totally get it.
Emilio – Yes, wouldn’t it be nice to see a commercial that tells us to be comfortable in our own skin? To accept all of our flaws… to be wonderfully flawed. Everybody is trying to fix things about themselves like getting face lifts, botox, etc. They think fixing these things will make them happy.
ME – We’re running out of time but I wanted to ask you about any new film projects you’re working on.
Emilio – Well, I’m working on a family film franchise about competitive harness horse racing. The film will be titled, ‘Johnny Longshot.’
ME – Good luck with that film project and thank you for your time today.
‘The Way’ will be available on VOD (Video on Demand) via FilmBuff this week, Feb. 9th http://www.filmbuffondemand.com/.
Comments