“The Way, My Way” is all about the journey, not the destination. The film by Bill Bennett is based on his memoir of the same title about a man walking the 500-mile Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain. Bill, played in the film by Chris Haywood, first got the idea when he and Jen, his wife (Jennifer Cluff), were on holiday in Spain, and saw a line of people walking. In a voiceover, he says, “They seemed to be walking with such purpose. It reminded me of lemmings plodding headlong to their death. I drove off thinking, ‘What a bunch of loonies … What a futile and meaningless thing to do.’ And it immediately appealed to me.” However, while many pilgrims Bill meets along the way know why they are undertaking the walk, the night before he leaves, Bill confesses to Jen that he isn’t yet clear about his motive. She is not at all pleased, because of his bone-on-bone bum knee. However, with his stubborn nature, Bill sets out.
He starts off as somewhat of a curmudgeon, and is very particular. He has incessantly weighed everything that will go into his backpack, which, according to his research, must be precisely 10 percent of his body weight. Once on the road, everything must be just so, from the beverage he drinks to how people take his photo. Bill also repels those who welcome him with open arms, as he does not wish to be hugged.
Walking the Camino de Santiago alternates between being an intimate experience with others and a solitary endeavor. Many walk the long segments alone, passing by those who go at their own pace. But at day’s end, pilgrims who have met before greet one another with the enthusiasm of long-lost friends. The rigor of the journey and the spiritual seeking of many who undertake it lead to fascinating and revealing conversations. We see this on Bill’s first night with the two men and a woman with whom he has drinks. Everyone reveals something personal that one would not ordinarily disclose in a typical social situation. Or, as Bill notes, they speak as the closest of friends, even though they are strangers. Many people Bill meets along the way were the pilgrims whom Bennett met when he did his walk 10 years earlier, adding a sensitive authenticity to the exchanges. For instance, one night, Bill asks an Italian dinner companion what makes a true pilgrim, to which the man answers, “You have to walk with your heart open.”
“The Way, My Way” is about transformations. As Bill says at the end, “There’s nothing like an 800-kilometer journey to encourage you to meet yourself.”
Vineyarder Polly Simpkins will share her transformative experience walking the entire Camino de Santiago. She is a DJ at MVY, an interfaith minister, and founder of the Cup of Karma Project, which facilitates meaningful ways to share stories of connection and celebrate what people mean to one another. Simpkins first heard about the Camino as a child, and had always been fascinated by it: “I decided to go for it in 2023. It was the year I turned 60, so it was a celebration.” Unlike Bennett, Simpkins decided to do the entire Camino alone and in silence. She walked for 40 days, from late September to early November. “My journey was based on the intention of completely detaching from life as I knew it, and really connecting with something greater than myself. I had nothing but myself, my thoughts, and my spirit walking with me, so it was pretty incredible.”
Simpkins recalls walking through the mountainous Pyrenees, wondering whether she could handle what was around the next corner. “What I took from the Camino was to trust where you are, that you can get to the next place you need to go, and you have all the tools you need just by putting one foot in front of another.”
“The Way, My Way” will screen at the M.V. Film Center starting Friday, May 2. For more information and tickets, visit mvfilmsociety.com. To learn more about Cup of Karma, visit acupofkarma.com/home.
