If you grew up in England, you probably knew about the 1939 Sutton Hoo excavation at school. But for those of us on the other side of the pond, The Dig on Netflix there is a lot to teach the public the true story of one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Novelist John Preston devoted himself to educating the masses with his 2007 novel The Dig, which has now been adapted for the screen by writer Moira Buffini and director Simon Stone, and which began airing on Netflix on Friday. However, The Dig it is based on a real story, the key source material is not so much the story as a historical novel. Make sure you enjoy the story and take part in the great performances of Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, but if you’re interested in what really happened, you may want to buy a non-fiction book. Let’s go inside The Dig real story, and accuracy The Dig is.
IS LA FOSSA BASED ON A TRUE HISTORY?
Yes. The Dig tells the true story of English landowner Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan), who hired archaeologist Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to dig the mysterious tombs on his Sutton Hoo estate in south-east Suffolk in 1937.
WHAT IS LA FOSSA TRUE STORY? WHO WAS BROWN ALBABATA? WHAT IS SUTTON HOO?
Basil Brown was a self-taught archaeologist and astronomer who has recently been credited with his important role in the field. In 1939, two years after being hired, Brown’s excavation team discovered a ship close to the touch of the 7th century, with a chamber full of trinkets and treasures, such as masks, helmets, and more.
The discovery was revolutionary in the understanding of historians of the first Anglo-Saxon people living in medieval Britain. The weapons discovered suggested that the ship might belong to a great war leader, a lyre spoke to the music and art of the people, and a Scandinavian shield suggested diplomacy with other countries. The most famous discovery was the Sutton Hoo, which was rebuilt by the British Museum and has become a key image of the Anglo-Saxon period.
HOW ACCURATE IT IS LA FOSSA?
Most of the main characters of The Dig they are based on real people, and the Sutton Hoo excavation was definitely real and meaningful. Still, great freedoms have been taken to dramatize the story. Mulligan plays English landowner Edith Pretty; Fiennes plays archaeologist Basil Brown; and Lily James plays Peggy Piggott, an English archaeologist involved in the excavation, whose nephew, John Preston, wrote the historical novel on which the film is based. Piggott’s first husband, Stuart Piggott (played by Ben Chaplin in the film), was also a true archaeologist present at the excavation, as was Charles Phillips (played by Ken Stott).
The only completely fictional main character is played by Johnny Flynn, also known as photographer Rory. The romance swirled between Peggy and Rory a The Dig is where the film becomes the “fictional” category of historical fiction. (It is true that the real Peggy Piggot and her husband Stuart Piggott separated after the excavation and divorced in 1956.)
In an interview with Decider about his character in The DigFlynn said, “I love the character because he’s actually the only character in the story who’s not a real person. John Preston, the novelist, and Moira Buffini, the screenwriter, created this fantastic device with Rory. “Where you get someone to let you see Peggy. You’ll see Lily James’ character through her eyes and you’ll get her to realize she’s not happy in her marriage.”
Other moments were dramatized by Preston in his historical novel, including the fall that collapsed Brown from Fiennes and, as far as I know, the tension between Brown and the British Museum.
In response to critics’ criticism of The Dig’s creative freedoms, Flynn added:Shakespeare obtained quite a few licenses Macbeth, Hamlet, i Troilus and Cressida. It’s a story at the end, and when you have to run the stories in a span of months, you have to confuse people, events and characters and try to translate it for people. “
I’ll see The Dig on Netflix