Random Passage

Random Passage is an epic by no means short of the imagination. It may be a work of fiction, but it accurately reflects the early life on the fishing settlements of Newfoundland. It follows the lives of the Andrews' family, who left England; Mary Bundle, an Irish servant; and Thomas Hutchings, the founding man of Cape Random. Cape Random provides a sanctuary to those that seek a new life or escape an old one. But the Cape presents itself its own challenges. The fishery is the way of life, but the people are cheated by the low fish prices from the greedy merchants of St. John's.

It is an unforgiving land, where one slip on an ice-flow can send a sealer to his frigid death. It is a very important piece of work, as it explores the poverty, the inequality, the hardship, and the love and hate, that are experienced by these characters. It is the closest that rural Newfoundland will ever be presented in such an accurate and honest way.

It is the story of Newfoundland, its people and their lives.

This is an incredibly good movie series. The characters are complex, gutsy, well defined and you fall in love with them, warts and all. It is almost like watching your own family members deal with tragedy after tragedy. It is about the grim realities of life in Canada in a fishing village perhaps 200 years ago. Death stalks in many ways. I have great admiration for my ancestors to have made it through times like this. I know I never could.

I would have given the movie my first 10 were in not some glaring anachronisms where for some idiotic reason there are a few scenes with a female actor in modern makeup complete with pencilled eyebrows.

You would think a movie about salting fish would be boring as all get out, but I can't think of a movie that drew me in more so that it felt like it was part of my own life. It is a heart wrenching combination of the achingly beautiful and utterly unbearable. It is not in the least predicable or boring. It feels like real life.

"When boys first go to bed, They step into their voluntary graves, Sleep binds them fast; only their breath Makes them not dead: Successive nights, like rolling waves, Convey them quickly, who are bound for death." ~ George Herbert, Mortification

We bought the DVD and watched this show after visiting the Random Passage film site in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland (worth a visit btw).

This show is a bit slower-paced than today's shows, being 20 years old, but that really fits for the theme of life in an isolated outport.

The show gets better and more intense as it goes on. The main characters: Thomas, Mary, Lavinia and Ned are all superbly acted.

I really can't think of another show I've seen where I became so involved in the fate of the characters. You really feel their vicissitudes and their triumphs in a way that is unusually strong. This series is under-rated and deserves more attention.

I can't believe that some of the people who commented here did not enjoy this series. The novels that this series was based upon were written by a Newfoundlander who did tonnes of research on the subject and made sure everything was as accurate as possible. This series depicts Newfoundlanders fighting to survive and clinging to a new world they called home. It shows the hardships these people endured and how proud and brave and strong these early Newfoundlanders were. It makes me proud to see these things and to be reminded that my ancestors worked so hard to make a home out of and the beautiful but unforgiving and relentless island where I was raised and long to return to.

Believe it or not, this was what it was like. In those times the Newfies were ignorant, poor people, easily manipulated by the monopoly of the St. John's merchants. They lived their entire lives on scraps, poverty and disease stricken whose ancesters can tell you more stories just as estranged that really did happen.

if anyone knows anything about the history of Newfoundland they will apprechiate this story. The story was not overzellius in any respect. People like Lavinia Andrews and Mary Bundle existed in those times. Women were utilized like Mary Bundle (I know another commenter stated that women didn't cook on vessels. Tell that to my ancesters that came to Newfoundland from England fishing off the french coast.) Women were raped, and really had no choice but to allow things to unfold in front of them. They had no rights. Bernice Morgan illustrated the greatest example of the history of Newfoundland in both Random Passage AND Waiting For Time. The only complaint I have about the series is that it didn't stay completely true to the story.

But still didn't stretch far from reality.