The film’s strong points are: its photography is lush the story is intriguing its recreation scenes of the dig were enjoyable and its PBS style of delivery is a matter of taste as to whether you like it or not, and I liked it. ![]() I didn’t care for the addition, as it seemed like a clumsy attachment that was not needed. He’s dropped into the film so he can provide a little romance. Lomax is of age for military service, who is thinking of joining the RAF. And also meet the widow’s unruly young son Robert (Archie Barnes), who Basil makes a solid avuncular connection with.Ī fictional element of the film supports a budding romance between Peggy (a real-life person, who was Preston’s aunt and the source of info for his book), and the fictional character Rory Lomax (Johnny Flynn), the fit young photographer cousin of Pretty’s whom she gets to help Basil on the dig. We meet Basil’s supportive wife May (Monica Dolan). The dig is rushed because of the impending war, as what should be two years of work becomes one. Until recently Basil’s contribution was hardly noted in the documentation. She insists that Basil be credited in the discovery and these establishment figures not freeze him out of perhaps the greatest find of medieval history made in the 20th century in England. Phillips arrogantly pushes Basil and his local workers aside until Edith intervenes. They are led by the haughty Charles Phillips (Ken Stott) of the British Museum, and his annoying underling Stuart Piggott (Ben Chaplin) and his timorous wife Peggy (Lily James). The government authorities take over the dig with the sighting of the ship. On the largest mounds Basil discovers a ship from the 7th century (an 80’-long, wooden Anglo-Saxon ship) and figures there might also be a treasure trove nearby. The modest self-taught Basil Brown (Ralph Fienes), considered an amateur on archeological digs, is hired in 1939 by the prim and wealthy widow Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) to investigate the burial mounds on her estate when the prominent Brit museums refuse to investigate. The novel, even if telling a true story, sometimes plays with the facts. It’s based on the 2007 novel by John Preston (which is based on the 1938-39 discovery of the Anglo-Saxon site of the ancient grave of Sutton Hoo, where a burial ship in Suffolk was extracted). We get great performances from Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, gorgeous location shots of the English countryside and a nice history lesson. ![]() In the Simon Stone (“The Daughter”) genteel directed and co-written drama, the noted theater director does a decent job in handling it as a drama. “Great performances from Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan.” With a sweeping score by Stefan Gregory and lush cinematography by Mike Eley, the film is nothing if not a joy to experience for a few hours, an escape back in time not unlike the experience of a real archaeology dig.(director: Simon Stone screenwriters: Moira Buffini/based on a 2007 novel by John Preston cinematographer: Mike Eley editor: Jon Harris music: Stefan Gregory cast: Carey Mulligan (Edith Pretty), Ralph Fienes (Basil Brown), Ken Stott (Charles Phillips), Monica Dolan (May Brown), Paul Ready (James Reid Moir), Peter McDonald (Guy Maynard), Archie Barnes (Robert), Johnny Flynn (Rory Lomax), Lily James (Peggy), Archie Barnes (Robert), Ben Chaplin (Stuart Piggott) Runtime: 112 MPAA Rating: PG-13 producers: Ellie Wood/Murray Furguson/Gabrielle Tana/Carolyn Marks Blackwood Netflix 2021-UK) It is more a tale of human endurance than an informative story on the Anglo-Saxons, a tale of hope and belief and the way we persist despite every obstacle at our fronts. The majority of what was discovered at Sutton Hoo - including the famous Sutton Hoo helmet - is largely glossed over, despite its very real importance to English history.īut The Dig is gentle, where so many dramas deem sadness to be the right answer. Ages are flipped about like a spilled deck of cards, with Mulligan playing fifty-six-year old Pretty, and archaeologist Charles Phillips (thirty-eight at the time) played by Ken Stott, an actor well into his sixties. Photographer Rory Lomax (Johnny Flynn) is entirely fictionalized, as is his romance with Lily James’s Peggy Piggott - replacing what could be deemed as vital work from real female photographers Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff. ![]() Some elements of the story, as always with adaptations, are warped for dramatic effect.
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