The Dig

[Skipsurvey]

this was number one in the UK yesterday,
watched it,
enjoyed it
but totally unrelated Lily James story I feel, and not even true, and with no outcome

[JamesMiddletonsMarshmallows]

I'm gonna watch this with a glass of wine tonight. It looks amazing!

Did they include Lily James and Johnny Flynn for the young pretty people in love angle?

[Caswint]

Not a bad film, however I can't forgive casting Carey Mulligan (and I do adore her) in the role of a woman who was about 55 at the time of events. It's ageist and sexist. Basil Brown was 5 years younger than Edith Pretty.

[IsolaPribby]

I have just watched it, and really enjoyed it! The Lily James character seems to be based on en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Guido
So some poetic license there.

But the scene where they started pulling the gold out of the ground gave me goosebumps, in a good way!

[Skipsurvey]

it was originally meant to be Nicole Kidman, and BBC films but that fell apart and Netflix took over

[Skipsurvey]

i understand what actually happened was there were two photographers, a couple of female teachers.
Lily James was just the romance/sex angle

[Skipsurvey]

The Lily James Peggy character was a married archeologist.

[HumphreyCobblers]

Watched it last night - really liked it but Dh thought the end a bit overly sentimental. I suppose it was a bit but as someone who is obsessed with Sutton hoo (have been to the British Museum twice just to see the exhibit) I was willing to forgive a bit of artistic licence.

[TherapistInATabard]

Justice for Peggy, I say! She was an experienced and well respected archaeologist by the time she dug at Sutton Hoo so presenting her as some sexually frustrated, wet behind the ears, clumsy ditz is really quite insulting. The love story added nothing to the film at all, though Johnny Flynn was good and I did like his character. But yes, making up a male love interest character to replace two local women in the ‘site photographer’ role was also a bit shit.

That said, as an archaeologist I did really enjoy it. Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan were both excellent. I would have preferred an older Edith Pretty but the portrayal of Peggy Piggott is what really bugged me.

[TherapistInATabard]

Oh, and Peggy’s husband was only a couple of years older than her, rather than Ben Chaplin and Lily James’s 20 year age gap! They were both in their late 20s in 1939.

[Clymene]

It was good (although absolutely agree about the fatuous inclusion of the side love story) but I was overwhelmed by the sadness of her son being left an orphan. That overshadowed the fabulous acting for me.

Robert was only 12 when Edith died. Poor kid.

[StCharlotte]

I didn't know the story at all so it worked brilliantly for me. Lovely film.

[Skipsurvey]

where did Robert end up?

[Clymene]

@Skipsurvey

where did Robert end up?

With Edith's sister. I think the Johnny Flynn character was artistic licence

[Pepper54]

Thoroughly enjoyed it. I agree with all the above re age lead actress and LJ. However RF and CM are excellent, beautifully shot too.

[Starrylight]

It was an unknown event for me so I enjoyed it.

[SpookieDookie]

Ralph Fiennes Suffolk accent was spot on. Lily James just plays the same character in everything she does, doesn’t she? Don’t rate her at all.

[Skipsurvey]

oh i loved her in Mamma mia

[peak2021]

@Caswint much as I have enjoyed Carey Mulligan in other roles, I think I will given this film a miss. It is not just Countryfile where women over 40 are excluded it seems. In contrast to the French language films where women over 40 are often the central character.

[Dozer]

Enjoyed this with DD, but as PPs say, clearly sexist film makers: portrayal of Peggy; and casting of carey mulligan (mid 30s) when the character was 20+ years older and similar age to ralph fiennes’ character.

So many examples of women actors cast as much, much older characters, not the case for men actors.

[TherapistInATabard]

Weirdly they did the opposite for two of the male characters. Ben Chaplin and Ken Stott are both a lot older than Piggott and Phillips were at the time.

Kristen Scott Thomas would have been wonderful as Edith. She’s 60 but looks younger.

[Dozer]

Assume it was done in order to include the character of the young boy.

[DejaVoodoo]

But the young boy was real, @Dozer! Robert was born when Edith Pretty was 47, and 12 years old when she died aged 59 in 1942.

It was a visually lovely film, but ruined by the unnecessary and dull romance side story. I couldn't have cared less about those characters. And why introduce historical inaccuracy in a film about a recent historic event?
And there were no shots of the Sutton Hoo treasure (that famous helmet? Come on!) or the legal wrangling/inquest.
Seriously, Netflix, we can enjoy a film with lurve and sex in it.

[LetItGoGo]

Despite the issues brought up here, I have to say I enjoyed this film more than anything I've seen recently. Down to Ralph Fiennes characterisation of Basil Brown, a good script and great cinematography. Even my very critical teen watched it and enjoyed it.

I hadn't realised Edith Pretty was cast younger than reality nor did I think Peggy was anything other than a completely invented character. It must be distracting if not annoying if you know the real history.

[LetItGoGo]

Did I miss an image of the reconstructed helmet? I thought it would have been an obvious image for a film to show.

[JayAlfredPrufrock]

I enjoyed it but agree Lily James is everywhere at the moment and is always the same character. She is stunningly beautiful but .....