The Passage--by Michael Raymond

Synopsis—The Passage

Writer:	Michael Raymond	Genre:	Drama/fantasy (time travel)
Subject:	Original Screenplay	Circa:	Present & 1920's New York
Title:	"The Passage"	Locale:	Working-class, urban environs

Theme/Story
Losing a sense of one's heritage can result in a loss of one's self, identity and place in the world: A young boy travels back in time where he must come to terms with his family heritage and great-grandfather's traumatic adolescence.

ACT I
MICHAEL is a headstrong fourteen year-old boy and amateur astronomer. He is at an awkward age and filled with adolescent angst—becoming increasingly antagonistic at home and with his great-grandfather ANTONIO. Michael can no longer tolerate Antonio's occasional displays of dementia, nor listen to his longwinded stories about losing his leg in a coal mining accident at the age of fourteen. In short, Michael is slowly becoming the quintessential teenager—eager to conform to his teenage peers and less interested in all matters related to the family. In fact, he finds greater solace at simply being left alone to gaze at the night sky with his beloved telescope.

On the day that a much ballyhooed five-generation photograph for the family album coincides with Michael's planned viewing of a total solar eclipse, Michael is in a sour mood because he has to stay at his great-grandfather's house. Left alone while the others go off to the photographer's studio, Michael disobeys Antonio's warning (or was it a dare?) to stay out of the cellar. Michael explores the mysterious cellar and discovers an entranceway to an eerie underground mine shaft tunnel. At the precise moment of the total eclipse, Michael steps through the portal and into a netherworld of strange shapes and colors—travelling back in time to an ocean-going vessel of Italian immigrants in the year 1927.

ACT II
Michael is in a state of shock, as he experiences the immigrant experience first-hand - the squalor and hardship, as well as the excitement and emotion of the first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. At Ellis Island, Michael manages to elude a dogmatic Customs Official named HUFFMAN and with no other recourse, he goes off in search of his ancestor's humble beginnings—the tenement building on the outskirts of the city that he had heard so much about from his great-grandfather.

Michael locates the family's former home and encounters Antonio at the age of thirteen. Michael is flabbergasted because Antonio is nothing like the cantankerous "old coot" that he knows. Antonio convinces his domineering father to let Michael stay with the family for a short spell, though Michael conceals his true identity from Antonio. In the interim, the oppressive Customs Official Huffman realizes that Michael duped him at Ellis Island and vows to find Michael and deport him.

Michael discovers that Huffman is hot on his trail, as he becomes determined to find a way to get back to present-day. However, his quest becomes all the more difficult, as his friendship with Antonio and relationship with his ancestral family intensifies into a genuine fondness. Through dogged determination, happenstance and even a bit of luck—Michael discovers the secret tunnel that will take him back home, as well as the date and time of the next total eclipse. However, there are pulling forces—including several startling revelations, as Michael must make some very difficult decisions.

ACT III
For Michael to return to his family, he must overcome his greatest fear in the river and also endure his great-grandfather's greatest tragedy—losing his leg.. In nail-biting fashion, Michael eludes Huffman and narrowly beats the clock, returning to present-day. He is a changed young man with payoffs from Act I aplenty. More importantly, Michael readies himself to re-establish his relationship with Antonio, but is it too late? Ultimately, Michael is forced to learn a painful lesson, although the denouement shows the bittersweet, yet satisfying results of Michael's journey.

Michael Raymond
7719 - 27th Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98117
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