THE SUTTON HOO archaelogical finds are very important to historians because it is the biggest early medieval treasure dug up in England.
It shows the rich culture of the Anglo-Saxons in the 6th century. “The Dig” is a film based on the true story of how an ancient ship and the artifacts in it were dug up in Suffolk, England in 1939, just as World War II is about to erupt.
The large mysterious burial mounds in the rural estate of Sutton Hoo, which is near a river, has always caused wonder and widowed landowner Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) gets excavator Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to dig one big mound to find out what is inside of it.
Brown used to work with the Ipswich Museum and his former superiors want him to work on an old Roman Villa which they think is more significant.
Brown is not really highly educated, belongs to the working class and he just learned archaeology from his own father. But he claims he can be shown any soil from anywhere in Suffolk and identify where it exactly comes from.
Upon Edith Pretty’s gut feel, he digs up to the more promising mound.
Edith’s son, Robert (Archie Barnes), becomes quite attached to him while he’s staying in the Estate. Edith is diagnosed to have a problem in her heart valve and told by her doctor to avoid stressing herself.
She asks her cousin, Rory Lomax (Johnny Flynn of “Emma”), to help in the digging.
Eventually, Brown gets evidence that the mound must be the burial site of an Anglo-Saxon King, when other experts thought it’s Viking, which is more recent.
An arrogant archaelogist from Cambridge, Charles Phillips (Ken Stott), then arrives and wants to take over in the digging since it’s of national significance, but Edith asserts her rights as she owns the place. She and Brown obviously have mutual respect for each other.
Phillips bring in his own team, including the husband and wife, Stuart and Peggy Piggott (Ben Chaplin and Lily James.) Peggy is a neglected wife and she gravitates towards Rory.
There is a hint of romance between them, but Rory has to leave to fight in the war with the Royal Air Force. It is Peggy’s nephew, John Preston, who wrote the 2007 book on which the film is based.
Although an investigation declared that she’s the rightful owner of the site and its finds, Edith subsequently decides to donate the treasure to the British Museum as war breaks out. In the film’s epilogue, it says that the treasure was hidden in the London Underground during the war to save it from destruction.
It was first exhibited in public in 1951, but there is no mention of Basil Brown’s participation in it, even if Edith personally expressed that Brown should be given proper credit. But this has been corrected in recent years and his name, along with Edith Pretty, are now prominently displayed in the British Museum.
The film is a sedately directed piece about historical discovery that also meditates on the fleeting nature of human life and the legacy we strive to leave behind. It’s filmed with lyrical beauty, with the photography capturing the idyllic serenity of the English countryside.
The whole cast gives understated performances. It’s so nice to see Ralph Fiennes again doing a lead role after playing Voldemort in the Harry Potter series and M in two James Bond flicks.
We’ll never forget his awesome performances in “The English Patient” and “The End of the Affair” with Julianne Moore.
We were just awed by Carey Mulligan with her fiery title role performance in “Promising Young Woman” and she now makes a total turn about and gives a very subdued but touching portrayal of the fragile young widow struggling with health issues in “The Dig”.
Finely crafted by Director Simon Stone, this is one evocative British period piece told with an exciting dash of history.
