The Dig

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.

Some nice performances here and the set-up for a great narrative about archaeology in pre-war Britain and the role that regular citizens played in scientific exploration, but something goes awry along the way. The second half of the film focuses on several plotlines that simply did not even exist in the first half of the movie. Something was clearly done here after the first draft of the screenplay. Were sections cut? Were characters added to "spice it up"? We may never know, but the final product feels awkward though it's no fault of the cast here.

Honestly, I landed on the film last night, browsing titles on Netflix, because of Lily James - having known nothing else about the film from before (I usually skip trailers these days), but that she was in the cast was a huge draw for me - and found immense pleasure in this gem of a film. From Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes to Ben Chaplin and Archie Barnes, the performances are all first-rate. The real-life story is told with great finesse, and filmed earnestly with a keen eye for production details. I have to say, even some of the lesser moments from the film shall stay with me for long, its appeal is that strong.

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.

I was excited to see a film that portrays 1930's England, and Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan are proven actors that bring a unique presence to their films. Archeology might be a tough sell for the premise of a film and it was these actors that drew me in. The first half gets it so right, it's just about the time period and characters digging while becoming excited as they unearth the past, it's rather simple yet these actors have no trouble keeping you interested. In fact it was refreshing to see English people presented on screen becoming excited over finding evidence of their ancestors and past to this ancient land given the current hostile attitude towards the English and Celtic peoples by particular political groups and media companies who like to remind us we have little culture and heritage.

Then suddenly it's as if the writers thought viewers would become bored and in comes a new character, a rather modern-behaving "liberated" female with her controlling husband, inserted into the plot to remind us how women should really behave in the current age as if we needed reminding. The key characters become background noise, and you have this love triangle develop, the film takes on a different purpose, I'd rather see more character development between the man who discovered the relics and the museum trying to take credit from the little man.