Direction: Simon Stone
Country: UK
This second directorial effort from Simon Stone, a British actor turned director, is set in Suffolk, England, on the eve of WWII. Investing more than anything in its characters, the powerfully performed The Dig was adapted with satisfactory results by Moira Buffini (Jane Eyre, 2011; Byzantium, 2012) from the 2007 novel of the same name by John Preston. Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes lead a soberly efficient cast, playing Edith Pretty, a landowner with an interest in archeology, and Basil Brown, an experienced excavator, respectively.
After discovering an Anglo-Saxon ship and other valuable relics buried for centuries in the Sutton Hoo, both will learn to deal with the tactless and domineering C.W. Philips (Ken Stott), a Cambridge archeologist who likes to have his own way.
Navigating the story’s period is easy since it was depicted with attention to detail, benefitting from the formidably composed images captured by the lens of Mike Eley (The Selfish Giant, 2013; Marley, 2012; and a few Roger Mitchell films). As a tolerable subplot, there’s this ruined marriage between the avid-for-love Peggy (Lily James) and the closeted gay Stuart Piggott (Ben Chaplin), two members of Philips team, who finally put an end in their relationship as their romantic interests are redirected.
Unfolding methodically with no ambiguities, the storytelling flows with interest but never reaches a climax per se as a consequence of scarce suspenseful moments. Instead, it burns with a constant flame that, never eradicating enjoyment, emits a light that never expands with novelty or surprise.
