GERMANY: Emilio Estevez directs father Martin Sheen in his forthcoming movie, The Way

Record ID: 470592

  • Title: GERMANY: Emilio Estevez directs father Martin Sheen in his forthcoming movie, The Way
  • Date: 19th February 2010
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (FEBRUARY 12, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF BERLINALE PALAST MOVIE POSTER FOR "THE WAY" (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMILIO ESTEVEZ, SAYING: "His character is emblematic of America's place in the world. I think we have kind of lost our way, in the last couple of decades. We've stopped being citizens of the world. So Tom embodies America re-engaging, because he's forced to. He has to acknowledge the fact we live in this global village. And he encounters people from all over the planet who are doing the Camino (pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, where it is believed the Saint James was buried), believers and non-believers. So his whole world has opened up as a result of being on the Camino." CLOSE OF MOVIE POSTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMILIO ESTEVEZ, SAYING: "There are good days and there are bad days directing Martin. For the most part, he is a team player. The only day he got angry on the set, if you look at this back pack (pointing to movie poster), that weighed probably 40 pounds. And he insisted on not having it weigh one ounce less. And he insisted on carrying it and wearing it. He says if I'm wearing it and it's not as heavy as it should be, the audience will know." MOVIE POSTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMILIO ESTEVEZ, SAYING: "How do you divorce yourself from the personal? And I think that's the fine line between husbands and wives and fathers and sons are going to experience when they work together. You're going to bump into that. You're going to bump into that no matter what. But he is extraordinary in this film. I think he gives the performance of his life in this picture. I certainly think so. I think he's definitely going to be talked about next year. He goes to a place emotionally that I haven't seen him go. And to hear Martin tell it, he says he hasn't had a role this gratifying since 'Apocalypse Now'. So I'm curious to see what people think of it." MOVIE POSTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMILIO ESTEVEZ, SAYING: "I admire a movie like Avatar, I admire Transformers, I don't know how to make these kinds of movies. First of all, I wouldn't know what to do with that kind of money to make a film. I've always made films for very little money and we've had to substitute imagination for money, many times so for me, again, I admire those film, I go to see them, I am a willing participant in the audience. So I'm staying in my comfort zone by making movies like Bobby or The Way. It's in my wheel house." VARIOUS OF MOVIE POSTERS AND STREET SCENES
  • Embargoed: 6th March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVAE74QX4PPFAEWSKB5IUNHDS979
  • Story Text: Emilio Estevez gets back behind the lens to direct his father, the legendary actor Martin Sheen, in a new movie "The Way", which is currently in post-production.
    Estevez, riding off the success of his directorial breakthrough Bobby, which featured an all-star cast including former wife Demi Moore, her husband Ashton Kutcher, Anthony Hopkins and Oscar-winner Helen Hunt, paid a 48-hour visit to the Berlin Film Festival recently, where he was drumming up support for his yet unfinished project.
    The idea for the story came from Sheen, who was eager to do a story with his son and use smaller, inexpensive cameras to take to the Pyrenees mountains in Spain for a feature film.
    Sheen plays Tom Avery, a man from California who travels to France to reclaim the body of his estranged son, who died in a storm in the Pyrenees, at one of the starting points of the Camino de Santiago. The pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, is the site where the remains of Saint James are believed to be buried. Avery cremates his remains, puts them in his son's backpack and starts off on his son's journey to Santiago.
    Estevez said the movie takes a political standpoint of the relations of the United States with the rest of the world.
    "His character is emblematic of America's place in the world. I think we have kind of lost our way, in the last couple of decades. We've stopped being citizens of the world. So Tom embodies America re-engaging, because he's forced to. He has to acknowledge the fact we live in this global village. And he encounters people from all over the planet who are doing the Camino, believers and non-believers. So his whole world has opened up as a result of being on the Camino," Estevez told Reuters Television.
    On directing his father, an irony considering Estevez kept his name as a young actor (whereas Martin and his brother Charlie both changed their surnames to Sheen) the former star of such films as "The Breakfast Club" and "Young Guns" said it was similar to any relationship between cast and crew.
    Estevez insisted it was his father's best work to date and could be Oscar-worthy.
    "How do you divorce yourself from the personal? And I think that's the fine line between husbands and wives and fathers and sons are going to experience when they work together. You're going to bump into that. You're going to bump into that no matter what. But he is extraordinary in this film. I think he gives the performance of his life in this picture. I certainly think so. I think he's definitely going to be talked about next year. He goes to a place emotionally that I haven't seen him go. And to hear Martin tell it, he says he hasn't had a role this gratifying since 'Apocalypse Now'. So I'm curious to see what people think of it."
    The Way is Estevez's fourth feature as a writer-director and also stars Deborah Kara Unger of "Silent Hill", Scottish actor James Nesbitt, and Spanish actors Angela Molina and Carlos Leal.
    The movie was made for five million USD, well below Hollywood's big budget standards but Estevez said it was the kind of film which he liked to and could make: "I admire a movie like Avatar, I admire Transformers, I don't know how to make these kinds of movies. First of all, I wouldn't know what to do with that kind of money to make a film. I've always made films for very little money and we've had to substitute imagination for money, many times so for me, again, I admire those film, I go to see them, I am a willing participant in the audience. So I'm staying in my comfort zone by making movies like Bobby or The Way. It's in my wheel house."
    There is no word of when it might be released as it currently has no distributor. Estevez said he was hoping The Way would be ready in time for the Cannes film festival in May.
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