Random Passage

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

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.

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 thought all Newfoundlanders from outport communities we're Ignorant, Stupid, Abused, and Cast Away.

If we all had the same building blocks to start with maybe the world would be different, but we make a note of ignoring our own issues and exploit it with loads of money from the Federal Government.

Isn't that what life is all about? Can't put all the Bay Bee's that were born in Prison Ships into normal circumstances.

Three Livers vs. Trois Rivers Want me to add anymore big words into this Comment? How about The Geneva Convention.

But I guess that's what Hollywood is all about, exploit everyone elses troubles.

Like all movies ,with the exception of "Angela's Ashes", the book is always more accurate and details are more thorough than the film. The problem a lot of the time is the dialects in some of these films. Fanny for example was played by native Sarah Power who should have known better and researched the bayman dialect which she didn't do for lack of talent. An uptown St. John's dialect cannot be compared to the dialects of Bonavista Bay. Had they taken veterans like Amy House and Ross Goldsworthy the film might of had a chance although Coln Meaney was quite wonderful in the role of Thomas Hutchings. I noticed many in this historical piece struggled with their roles when they spoke but that is to be expected when time outweighs research. To capture an era is wonderful but if the dialects are off course it becomes nothing more than a movie about Newfoundland. Like you all I thought it was a great film but some of the casting was unforgivable. What would an Englishman know about casting Newfoundland based characters? Nothing at all apparently and it is so very noticeable. As one lady from Newfoundland so perfectly coined it..." Youse don't sound like way!"