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virtually tarred and feathered by Lady Franklin and her influential friends. In his film Passage, the director John Walker sets out to defend and honour Rae. He travels to England to trace the story of how Rae became involved in the search for Franklin, taking along his cast and crew, as well as Tagak Curley, an Inuit descendant of the people who discovered the remains of the expedition. Walker’s trip to Britain is also an attempt to correct history: he meets with the great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens, who was enlisted by Lady Franklin to slander Rae and the Inuit, and who claimed the Inuit were cannibals who had attacked the defenceless expedition. The encounter between the descendants exemplifies the importance and effect of a heartfelt apology, and Passage melds documentary passages and fictional re-enactment very smoothly. Watch for the appearance of Ken McGoogan (author of the book Fatal Passage), dressed in a fine-looking fringed leather jacket as he joins the modern-day adventurers. Early in the movie, upon seeing the statue in London honouring Franklin’s posthumous discovery of the Northwest Passage, Tagak Curley deadpans something to the effect that Franklin wasn’t a great explorer, he just got lost. Too true. It is Dr. John Rae who deserves a statue; he was the real deal.
THE JOB IS YOURS Marisa Chandler
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verqualified by Joey Comeau (ecw Press) is a collection of satiric cover letters handcrafted to make any hr worker cringe and every job seeker smile. Ranging from pithy and heartwarming to
Fall 2009 • G E I ST 74 • Page 77