The Dig

An unbelievable find on the brink of war. A look into the ancient history of Britain. But the movie is really about the lives of the normal people who discover it's secrets. Great acting from the main characters. Especially Fiennes shows us how versatile he really is. Great watch.

"The Dig" (2021 release from the UK; 112 min.) reminds us at the very beginning that this is "Based On a True Story". We then go to "Suffolk, England, 1939" as Basil Brown arrives at the house of Edith Pretty. Turns out Mrs. Pretty has hired Mr. Brown to do some archeological work on her estate. Her young son excitedly asks Mr. Brown "Are you going to dig upo the mountain?". Mr. Brown, taking room and pension at Mrs. Ptretty's house, starts to dig and soon is working his way towards some intriguing finds... At this point we are 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out. Couple of comments: this is directed by little known Australian director Simon Stone ("The Daughter)". Here he brings us a historical drama about what later became known as the Sutton Hoo treasure, one of the biggest archeological finds in British history. The setting of 1939 is pivotal in several ways: of course the threat of WWII is in the air, but even more important, the way of life in those days was just entirely different, and being in a remote English area (near Ipswich) only reinfornces that. So be prepated for a slow moving film, I didn't mind it one bit. Even more critical for the movie is Carey Mulligan's exquisite lead performance. Playing a person who is more than 20 years her senior in real life (Carey is 35, Mrs, Pretty was in her mid-50s in 1939), she does so with grace and style and presence. The role couldn't be more different from what Carey did in the recently released "Promising Young Woman", which was in my top 3 of the bests films of 2020. Ralph Fiennes is equally great as the excavator Mr. Brown. Last but not least there is a wonderful orchestral score by Stefan Gregory, who I must admit was previously unknown to me. "The Dig" opened last weekend in select theaters for a short run before then moving on to Netflix. (Seems like every other new theatrical release these days follows that pattern....) Thankfully the film opened at my art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The early Satruday evening screening where I saw this at was attended so-so (exactly 5 people including myself). Never mind. If you are in the mood for a good ol' fashioned hisstorical drama featuring outstanding performances from Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD< or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.

This is a very good movie..if you see the picture from the outside you'll say it's a story about an Archeologist and his historically important excavation..but if you dig deeper you'll find a lot of potential in what the movie is trying to tell you. The relationships between us and the people we love,the people we don't even know..heck between people in general and how it's important to a human being..but that comes with a misunderstandings and conflicts and this happening in a time of war and how that is affecting them..all this has been told in an amazing dramatic way of Brasil Brown who discovered and excavated one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time of course with that being the main story. The acting by Carey Mulligan was magnificent and Ralph Fiennes was the one for this role and their performance was the outstanding thing in the whole movie. Another thing was good is the editing..they've done a tremendous job and it was really worth the effort to come up with something like this. Although sometimes there are some side stories that you'll find yourself not that interested in them too much,and the storytelling could seem very slow at some points..also there's ups and downs like any other movie. Overall great movie,worth watching and i suggest you to see it.

The film is packed with acting talent - as an audience member you can almost see the rivets popping as they go for that Award...but, oh dear. The overall experience is far below expectations because there is so little explanation of the importance of the find. The implications of what they found literally changed history. Who cares if Lily James' character has an affair? It is made painfully obvious why. She plays a character who was Britains's best archaeologist: you wouldn't know it from this storyline. So much more could have been explained, and we would have loved it. I think they bent time to make Basil (Ralph Fiennes) look heroic, but I am not wholly convinced even after this propaganda. Yes, the British Museum are bullies...but thank goodness Britain has this world class institution.

This is a superb film that I could watch again and again. I've been to see the Sutton Hoo treasures many times and have seen the story told on TV from Blue Peter to Horizon so I was looking forward to this... but also slightly worried about it. Films on subjects like this can be either dry or trivial or triumphalist or worthy or just bad. But from the first scenes this film is beautiful. These is no other word. The outdoor scenes (and much of it is outdoors) is just breathtakingly gorgeous at times. This is Suffolk and wow does it look good. If anyone has seen the BBC series "The Detectorists" they will get the idea. It captures the big skies of East Anglia so well, sun through the early morning mists, or even after the rain like works of art. The stage on which the action is set is sumptuous. As for the action - its just so good. Almost dreamlike at times - I found myself thinking of "The Go-Between" (also set in Suffolk, of course!) with dialogue over the top of action that is not taking place at quite the same time. Hard to describe, but its like memories. Some of the film is a shade predictable - the small enthusiast verses the big guy, the mismatched couple and a possible tragic love story, the child's eye view at times, the repressed sexuality of the period - it's all there. But it is so well done. The only downside is that this film - this photography - deserves the big screen, but most people will now see it on the small. This is such a shame. Its deserved so much more.

The A story was, of course, The Dig. But then we got the B story about the imminent World War. And then the C, D, E and F stories. What a bloated mess. Too bad this movie didn't stick to the main event and the B story. It was overwhelmed with distractions and was not successful. Word to the wise: tell the true story, not all the other stories that screenwriters imagine must have been going on at the same time. The story of Mr. Brown and Mrs. Pretty, and the discovery, should not have been buried under all of the other stories that had nothing to do with the discovery. Disappointing.

So rare to watch a wonderfully gentle but poignant film. It tugs at the emotions as it tells a largely true. Some liberties are taken with the truth but largely accurate. The real story of Peggy Piggott is fascinating and worth a film in itself. However the real stars of the story are Edith Pretty and Basil Brown portrayed brilliantly by Mulligan and Fiennes. One small criticism is that Carey Mulligan is too young for the part but she carries it off superbly and the performance by Ralph Fiennes is one of the best I have seen in a long time. The whole cast is superb and the backdrop of imminent war is ever present throughout the film. I have visited Sutton Hoo a number of times and studied the excavation and I still marvel at the work Basil Brown did. As an archaeologist myself I can say his work even by today's standards was of the highest order. Many of the academic archaeologists before and after WW2 were useless when it came to excavation and recording it. Basil Brown did everything right and it is fantastic he is at last getting the credit he deserved and that Edith Pretty wanted for him. It is to the great shame of the academic establishment it has taken so long. The film portrays this extremely well.

There is a lot I can say about this film, but I'll keep it short. If you love simple stories being told in a beautiful and clear manner, and if you like Archaeology, then this is the film for you. All of the actors have done a wonderful job.

There are so many really good things about this movie, such a great piece of story telling. The cast is excellent and all put in great performances, especially Lily James and Ralph Fiennes. It's not just about an archaeological dig though, it's about past lives, present lives and how things are remembered in the future. There are also several strands to the relationships between all invloved too, including working relationships, family relationships, class and secret relationships. I don't know how much of the story is fiction or fact but it is well told either way. All this set with a backdrop of the coming second world war. I am lucky enough to have seen the Sutton Hoo treasures at the British Museum and have always been keenly interested in archeology so this film based on the true story of this discovery was right up my street.