Aron Gaudet’s The Way We Get By

There have been a lot of films over the past 6 years about the Iraq war and all of them have managed to find their own niche or speaking point about the invasion.  The Way We Get By is no different, as the foundation of the film may be in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars but the heart of the film lies elsewhere, specifically in Bangor, Maine.

The airport in Bangor is the point where most soldiers depart to and arrive back from Iraq.  Flights come in and take off daily bringing soldiers closer to and farther away from their families.   And as they come and go, there is a loyal group of Bangor citizens always ready to greet them no matter what time of day or night.

The main group is filled with the town’s senior citizens including the film’s main protagonists Bill Knight, Jerry Mundy and Joan Gaudet.  We are introduced to each of them through learning that they are apart of the group of greeters that are always on hand to welcome the soldiers back to the states.  But once you get past the initial concept of the war and the soldiers, Bill, Jerry and Joan quickly become the focus of the film.  We spend the majority of our time with our unlikely three, getting to know their homes, their families (or lack of) and what defines their lives at this late stage in the game.

And thus, the hook of greeting the soldiers gives way to the bigger picture of what we all need to get by in life.  And if Bill, Jerry and Joan are to be believed, we basically need two things - people in our lives and a purpose.   This is where the film succeeds, despite the very real problem of being too voyeuristic and distracting with unnecessarily strange camera angles.  For it isn’t very often we are allowed to sit in the cinema and really think about what it means to get old and if our lives not only help ourselves but also help others.  Listening to Bill, Jerry and Joan forces us to think about the purpose of our own lives, the ways in which we touch others and also how we treat our elderly.

The trailer is below: