On the surface, The Dig is a charming, heart-felt
reconstruction of a fascinating moment of archaeological history, mixed with
engaging (but familiar) stories of a working-class amateurs being patronised by
upper-class professionals. However, Stone’s film manages to have a richer
second layer. With war approaching, and mortality constantly on the mind of
most of the characters, it’s also a subtle investigation of legacy, the past
and death itself.
Stone’s film develops this with its rich, poetic filming
style. Beautifully shot in a series of gorgeous hazy hues, with dynamic use of
low-angles and wide-angle lenses, Sutton Hoo is given an almost mystical
beauty. Stone also makes extensive use of playing dialogue over images not of
the conversation, but smaller moments in character’s lives, from casual meetings
to cleaning shoes, that as such take on a profounder meaning. It’s a visual
representation of how our legacy is often a snapshot of images and relics,
moments that stay in the memory even when events (or conversation in this case)
has moved on. It’s subtly done, but carries a beautiful impact.
Then of course, it’s not surprising legacy in on the mind.
Each of the characters is at a tipping point in their own lives. Edith Pretty –
so consumed with quiet grief over the loss of her husband that she is desperate
for there to be something on the other side – is struggling with her own
health, aware she will shortly leave her son an orphan. Her cousin Rory
prepares for service in the RAF – service she fears will shortly leave him dead
(the dangers of the airforce are clearly shown when a trainee pilot crashes and
drowns near to the dig).
This connection to the briefness and intangibility of life
pushes people to address their own choices. After all they are all standing in
the grave of a man considered so important at that the time, a ship was dragged
several miles to honour him – and today we have no idea who he was. Married
archaeologist couple Stuart and Peggy Piggott confront an amiable loveless
marriage (he’s gay, she’s falling in love with Rory) that shouldn’t define
their lives. Basil has dealt with quiet grief at a childless marriage, and sees
his work in astronomy and archaeology as his legacy.
These ideas are gently, but expertly, threaded together with
a reconstruction of the key issues around the dig. Needless to say, the
academics – led by Ken Stott at his most pompous – have no time for Basil’s
home-spun methods. Basil’s predictions of the Anglo-Saxon tomb are constantly
dismissed until he literally digs the ship up. Immediately he is benched to
clearing soil (and only on Edith’s insistence is he allowed to remain at all) and
later his name will be scrubbed out of the official record. It’s always the way
with Britain – and a sign of how tenuous our legacies can be.
The personal stories are not always as well explored. The
film has its flaws, not least the sad miscasting of Carey Mulligan as Edith. In
reality, Edith was in her mid-50s when the ship was discovered. The film was
developed for Nicole Kidman, but with her withdrawal Mulligan (twenty years too
young) was drafted in. Sadly, nothing was changed to reflect this: meaning the
characters years of spinsterhood before marriage lose impact (seriously how old
can she have been when she married? She’s got a 12 year old son!). A softly
underplayed romantic interest between Edith and Basil is also rather unsettling
considering the vast age difference between them. (It’s better to imagine it as
a platonic bond).
It’s still more engaging than the rather awkward love
triangle the film introduces late on between the married Piggotts and Edith’s
(fictional) cousin Rory. It’s fairly familiar stuff – the closeted gay Piggott,
the growing realisation of this by Peggy and the obvious charm and gentle
interest of Rory – and more or less pans out as you might expect, although at
least with a dollop of human kindness.
The film’s other delight is the acting. Ralph Fiennes is
superb as the taciturn Basil, a dedicated self-taught man who knows what he is
worth, but struggles to gain that recognition. Fiennes not only has excellent
chemistry with Mulligan and Barnes, he also suggests a quiet regret in Basil as
well as a fundamental decency tinged with pride. For all that she is miscast,
Mulligan does very good work as Edith while Chaplin, James and Flynn make a lot
of some slightly uninspired material.
The Dig is at its best when asking quiet and gentle
questions about life and when it focuses on the platonic romance between Basil
and Edith. Directed with a poetic assurance by Simon Stone, it doesn’t push its
points too far and gets a good balance between fascinating historic
reconstruction and more profound questions of mortality.
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