A sequel to The Way on the way says filmmaker Emilio Estevez

Showing all posts tagged: Emilio Estevez

A sequel to The Way on the way says filmmaker Emilio Estevez

20 July 2023

I mention Emilio Estevez’s 2010 movie The Way one day, and the next I learn the American director is working on a sequel to the film, which was set on the Camino de Santiago, in Spain.

I also discovered The Way was re-released in American cinemas last May. Estevez describes the film as being more of its time today, than when it was made thirteen years ago, given people’s desire to embrace travel again after the Covid lockdowns. There’s clearly something in that sentiment, as I know of several people who have spent time walking the Camino this year.

Martin Sheen, Estevez’s father, and star of The Way, has indicated interest in being involved in the sequel, but aside from that little else is known about the proposed new film, with Estevez still to work out the finer details of the story:

We’ve been talking about doing a follow up, a sequel of sorts. Martin says he’s up for it and I’ve cracked the code for what it would be. I will go to Spain to do promotion for this, but also testing the waters for what a sequel might look like.

As of time of writing, there’s no mention of the sequel on Estevez’s IMDb page, meaning the project isn’t even in pre-production yet, so fans of The Way will be waiting sometime for it to arrive.

Camino by Birgitte Stærmose, a remake of The Way by Emilio Estevez?

18 July 2023

Camino, a film by Birgitte Stærmose, film still

Still from Camino, directed by Birgitte Stærmose.

When I first saw the trailer for Camino, the latest feature by Danish filmmaker Birgitte Stærmose, I couldn’t help but see parallels with The Way, trailer, a film made in 2010, by American actor and director Emilio Estevez. At first, some of the similarities made me wonder whether Camino was a remake of The Way, which I saw in 2012, but likely that was my imagination running away with me.

Certainly though, both stories feature a number of commonalities.

The first, and indeed most obvious, is their shared setting, the Camino de Santiago, or Camino, which is sometimes referred to as the Way of St James. The Camino is a network of pilgrimage routes spanning the north of Spain. The networks, or pathways, lead to what many believe is the tomb of Saint James, an apostle of Jesus, a preacher and religious leader, who lived in the first century of the Common Era. Some of the Camino pathways can take weeks to walk.

The family dynamics in both films are also comparable, with a father-adult child estrangement being a central plot point. In the case of Camino, this is discord between a woman, Regitze (Danica Curcic), and her father, Jan (Lars Brygmann). Both stories feature a death in the family, and a subsequent obligation to walk the Camino, or at least part of it.

The protagonists in both movies frequently encounter other Camino walkers, who often seem to be possessed of strong, or colourful personalities. And finally, both stories are comedies, infused with elements of drama and tragedy. But despite these similarities, Camino is not a remake of The Way.

For those who want to see for themselves though, Camino premieres in Australia as part of the 2023 Scandinavian Film Festival, with the first screening taking place in Sydney on Sunday 31 July 2023.

The Way, a film by Emilio Estevez, with Martin Sheen, James Nesbitt

23 April 2012

The Way, a film by Emilio Estevez, film still

Still from The Way, directed by Emilio Estevez.

People have been walking the Camino de Santiago, or Camino, an 800 kilometre long track from the Pyrenees in France, to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in the Spanish town Galicia, for over a thousand years. Many are Christian pilgrims on spiritual retreats, while others walk the scenic pathway purely for leisure.

American eye doctor Tom Avery (Martin Sheen) finds himself on the historic trail for other reasons however, in The Way (trailer), the latest feature of American filmmaker Emilio Estevez (The War at Home, Bobby). Estevez also plays Tom’s adult son, the free-spirited Daniel, who dies during a storm soon after embarking on the long trek.

Intent on walking the path alone in remembrance of Daniel, Tom isn’t exactly overjoyed to run into the same people repeatedly. They include Joost (Yorick van Wageningen), a Dutchman trying to lose weight, Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger), a Canadian escaping from an abusive marriage, and Jack (James Nesbitt), a struggling Irish writer.

The four eventually end up walking as a group, and in their own ways are able to be of help to each other. Tom however remains the most aloof of the quartet, and the most prone to bad tempered outbursts, as he struggles to come to terms with his grief, while harbouring a lingering ambivalence towards his trekking companions.

On one hand The Way is a warming portrayal the ancient Camino, and the people who travel along it, and their quest for whatever it is that they are seeking. Many of the situations that Tom and his co-walkers find themselves in will doubtless be familiar to anyone who has spent time backpacking, regardless of where they’ve been.

Yet it’s as if the grimness of Tom’s trudge, and the varying despair of those accompanying him, wasn’t quite enough for the screenwriters, who seemed to decide the story was want of a little more tension. The solution however, mainly in the form of Tom’s frequent meltdowns, comes across as contrived, and at odds with the consoling calm of the Camino.

Originally posted Monday 23 April 2012.