The Dig ***

England before the War was still a class-ridden place and when a widowed Suffolk landowner, Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan), has “feelings” that there might be something buried under the odd mounds on her property she initially treats the local amateur excavator, Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes), like one of her servants. He holds his ground, determined to be paid £2 a week, rather than the pittance she offers. But he receives more condescension, even rude dismissal, when officials from Ipswich Museum and then the British Museum descend as they sense he may be onto something. That “something” turns out to be perhaps the most significant find in Britain in modern times: the burial ship containing the 7th century Anglo-Saxon King Rædwald of East Anglia and a treasure trove of golden and other precious items, which Mrs Pretty subsequently donated to the British Museum. The site of Sutton Hoo is now a National Trust property. The story of this spectacular find is recounted in Simon Stone’s film, The Dig, drawn from the novel by John Preston. An interesting (platonic) relationship develops between Mrs Pretty and the self-taught Mr Brown as their mutual love for digging up the past overcomes the social chasm that divides them. The fact that Mr Brown takes an avuncular interest in the young son of the house (Archie Barnes), helps; there is no father, as he has died. In real life, Edith Pretty was in her mid-50s in 1939, when the film is set, on the eve of War, and originally Nicole Kidman was going to play the role. When she dropped out she was replaced by Carey Mulligan, 33 — it’s a fine performance but inevitably there is a certain disconnect, with her being a good 20 years too young, even though she is said to have a heart condition. The real Mrs Pretty died in 1942, only three years after the dig, at the age of 59. There is therefore something uneasy abut the dynamic between the two main characters, if one cares for historical truth. What cannot be denied, however, is that Ralph Fiennes is magnificent as Mr Brown, curmudgeonly, dedicated and truly a man of the Suffolk soil.