Footprints: The Path of Your Life movie

[markmcilroy]

For all the Kiwi pilgrims:

I have just watched the film,Footprints: The Path of your Life as it has just been put on Netflix in New Zealand last week.

It is documentary about 10 pilgrims that follow the Norte route.

The blisters look a touch painful.'

Mark

 

[Anemone del Camino]

It was discussed here before, in particular asking about where on the Norte the images were filmed. Turns out often it was off Camino, and sometimes way off.

This inlcudes the scenes going up steps by the coast. It's San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, near Zarautz.

I think there are also scenes from the Camino del Rey, near Malaga, all the way in the south off Spain, walking on a narrow walkway along a cliff.

 

[mylifeonvacation]

I thought the scenes with the cliff walking were in the Picos de Europa, in Asturias, on their way to (or from?) Covadonga.

It's also now streaming on Netflix in the US. But I haven't re-watched it yet.

 

[NualaOC]

Here's a link to the earlier thread about this movie.

It seems to be on UK Netflix too. I'll hopefully watch it this weekend, but I think I may need to take an anti-cynicism pill first

 

[James Borden]

You can start a drinking game with how many times one of the guys says
"You know" after every sentence.

 

[alaskadiver]

It was discussed here before, in particular asking about where on the Norte the images were filmed. Turns out often it was off Camino, and sometimes way off.

This inlcudes the scenes going up steps by the coast. It's San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, near Zarautz.

I think there are also scenes from the Camino del Rey, near Malaga, all the way in the south off Spain, walking on a narrow walkway along a cliff.

No definitely not the Caminito del Rey. Not even close
That scene was in the Picos de Europa. I recognized it immediately.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

No definitely not the Caminito del Rey. Not even close
That scene was in the Picos de Europa. I recognized it immediately.

Read above, we sorted this out months ago, it is near Getaria, but not on the Camino. I emailed those who made the film and they explained. A few have been there since and reported back.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Are there any female pilgrims involved in the film?

 

[alaskadiver]

Read above, we sorted this out months ago, it is near Getaria, but not on the Camino. I emailed those who made the film and they explained. A few have been there since and reported back.

I wasn't referring to that scene. I was referring to the fact that they did not show any scenes from the Caminito del Rey.
Months ago? You posted this on July 3rd. This thread was started this month

 

[alaskadiver]

Are there any female pilgrims involved in the film?

No, it was a just a group of young guys. Most of whom, it would appear, where very out of shape
I didn't enjoy it and I wouldn't recommend it. Makes it out like the Camino is this grueling experience. They walked over 30km on most stages which was above their abilities considering their lack of training and big pack. They didn't stay on one route and cut across through the Picos de Europa until they joined the Primitivo. Which actually sounds like a fun hike.

 

[alaskadiver]

I thought the scenes with the cliff walking were in the Picos de Europa, in Asturias, on their way to (or from?) Covadonga.

It's also now streaming on Netflix in the US. But I haven't re-watched it yet.

Yes, they were in the Picos.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I wasn't referring to that scene. I was referring to the fact that they did not show any scenes from the Caminito del Rey.
Months ago? You posted this on July 3rd. This thread was started this month

This movie was discussed this winter. That is when I contacted the producers via their website to ask them where on the C. they had filmed.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Are there any female pilgrims involved in the film?

To a rhetorical question, a rhetorical reply: no.

 

[NualaOC]

Are there any female pilgrims involved in the film?

To a rhetorical question, a rhetorical reply: no.

Women are clearly not their target audience. I found it to be quite a strange film and didn't like it very much.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I found it to be quite a strange film and didn't like it very much.

That was my reaction as well. My first thought was that it was 1:29 of my life I would never get back...

 

[dougfitz]

I watched it when it was released on Netflix. I found it difficult going and couldn't see the point in the end.

 

[Dannyhiker]

I walked the Camino del Norte last year. The movie was frustrating in that they filmed it all over the place and not on the Camino. I quit about half-way thru. Not recommended.

 

[Anamya]

A lot of it was on the Camino Lebaniego, which crosses the Picos de Europa to reach the Sanctuary of Santo Toribio.
Not a great movie, not bad either. Made me want to walk to Santo Toribio, though.

 

[The Kolbist]

This is the most real pilgrimage Camino movie. Lebaniego-Covadonga-Oviedo will not appeal to the secular caminante / pilgrim. The essence of a pilgrimage is captivated by the pilgrims as they walked longer miles to cover lebaniego and the picos de europa as the albergues/refugios are few and far in between. For me, this is the best Camino movie. I watched this so many times. We plan to follow their footprints (except for Picos de Europa) in 2020.

 

[RumAndChupacabras]

I concur! Have watched it numerous times and still get goosebumps.

 

[jbear]

I guess I’m in the minority. I liked it a lot. But the people, and their reasons for walking, resonated with me.

 

[Former member 2537]

Completely overwrought.

 

[The Kolbist]

Overwrought - in a state of excitement or anxiety?

 

[RumAndChupacabras]

This film 'happened' into my life...and, changed it forever. True story.

 

[RJM]

I like the young men in the movie and their motivation for walking.
I did not like how poorly prepared and equipped they were for walking the Camino. Packs look way too heavy, with too much stuff and the packs looked poorly set up. They definitely could have used a mentor with prior backpacking experience to help and advise them. Also, they did not look like they prepared physically for the walk, but their youth is what got them through.

 

[lizlane]

I liked it and I don't know what the noise is about females not being in it. Must we make godly men sit back in the corner of political correctness never to share themselves with the world? It was refreshing to see real men, with their priest, going on a pilgrimage and reclaiming the hero's journey for themselves.

I think it is a good example of the challenges and benefits of traveling with a group but it was not life-changing for me. It was inspiring to see those who did not prepare make it.

 

[RumAndChupacabras]

Bottom line...I believe that even though this is filmed 'on' Camino, it's not 'about' Camino. Appears to me that it's about what can happen, via Camino. My 2 cents.

 

[David Tallan]

Bottom line...I believe that even though this is filmed 'on' Camino, it's not 'about' Camino. Appears to me that it's about what can happen, via Camino. My 2 cents.

I think all of the best movies about the Camino are about what can happen via Camino. Yes, you could just have a movie about the Camino and not the experience: the places along it and the history. It would be like taking Gitlitz and Davidson's excellent book and turning it into a documentary. But it wouldn't capture the what to me is the essence of the Camino at all. It is what can happen to people who walk it that really defines what the Camino is all about - to me. That's my 2 cents.

On the other hand, when describing this film to others, I usually make it clear that the pilgrims in the movie are not on the same Camino that people are usually referring to when talking about the Camino. The destination is the same but the route there is different. Thus, the landscape, towns, villages and experiences may differ from those seen in other movies and accounts dealing with the more popular route.

 

[David Tallan]

I like the young men in the movie and their motivation for walking.
I did not like how poorly prepared and equipped they were for walking the Camino. Packs look way too heavy, with too much stuff and the packs looked poorly set up. They definitely could have used a mentor with prior backpacking experience to help and advise them. Also, they did not look like they prepared physically for the walk, but their youth is what got them through.

Interestingly, as you post this I am re-watching a series of video blogs, one of the first set I watched about people walking the Camino. It follows a young, Irish vegan couple who are walking with their baby. They set off from SJPP on the first of January. So they are carrying winter weight clothes and all of the baby stuff, in addition to the baby himself, of course. (No stroller, he is carried in a front-facing baby carrier.) They don't have a big budget so they haven't bought fancy light tech clothes and equipment, just generally what they had to hand. His ordered boots didn't arrive in time so he set off in his light tai chi shoes. He is carrying all of the clothes and things for both of the adults and some for the baby on his back. She is carrying the baby on her front and, for about a third of the time, a small backpack with some of the baby's things on her back. For the other two thirds of the time he carries that in his front, as well, to give her a break.

At one point he weighs himself with and without load. Without load: 71 kg. With load: 101 kg.
Spoiler: They make it to Finisterre, walking the whole way. If you think the young men in the film had backpacks that were too heavy they have nothing on this guy!

 

[RJM]

Interestingly, as you post this I am re-watching a series of video blogs, one of the first set I watched about people walking the Camino. It follows a young, Irish vegan couple who are walking with their baby. They set off from SJPP on the first of January. So they are carrying winter weight clothes and all of the baby stuff, in addition to the baby himself, of course. (No stroller, he is carried in a front-facing baby carrier.) They don't have a big budget so they haven't bought fancy light tech clothes and equipment, just generally what they had to hand. His ordered boots didn't arrive in time so he set off in his light tai chi shoes. He is carrying all of the clothes and things for both of the adults and some for the baby on his back. She is carrying the baby on her front and, for about a third of the time, a small backpack with some of the baby's things on her back. For the other two thirds of the time he carries that in his front, as well, to give her a break.

At one point he weighs himself with and without load. Without load: 71 kg. With load: 101 kg.
Spoiler: They make it to Finisterre, walking the whole way. If you think the young men in the film had backpacks that were too heavy they have nothing on this guy!

I suppose it is not so much the size and weight of the backpacks the young men are carrying, but the way the packs hang on them and the way they are packed. Does not look ergonomic or efficient. I suppose I notice things like that too much because of backpacking I did when younger with my older brother and his friends, and they were very strict on how the backpacks were loaded etc. They would repack mine if they did not like the way it looked or balanced, and then there was my time in the military and the field packs we used. The better packed they were, the less misery you had. They were very heavy sometimes.

 

[Moonstruck]

My favourite movie about the Camino. When I miss the Way, I put the movie on and listen to the Friar talk about silence and the voice from within. It puts me right back on the trail.