When it comes to survivals of the past there are names of
places and specific objects that have come to stand for whole cultures. Mycenae
and the “Mask of Agamemnon”, Chichen Itza in Peru, Ankor Wat in Cambodia, the
valley of the kings and the tomb of Tutankhamun. These rightly have global
recognition. It seems appropriate that their locations should be exotic; on
mountainsides, deep in jungles, out in the desert.
It can be difficult to see the British examples in the same
way. But Stonehenge, Skara Brae, Newgrange in Ireland, all deserve to be mentioned
in the same breath. When such an example is on your own doorstep, the sort of
place your family drive past on a Sunday afternoon, or you cycle to in your
teens, it is more difficult still. This was my relationship with Sutton Hoo and
the treasures found there. Growing up in Ipswich, I suppose I could say I have
known about it all my life. I certainly began learning details early. On
Saturday mornings I used to attend something called Young Rescuers at the
Museum in Ipswich. They had replicas of the Sutton Hoo finds and I was familiar
with the buckle, the purse and the other jewelled objects.
Ten years later, Michael Wood’s Series and accompanying book, which I still own, In search of the Dark Ages, gave me more detail still. Since then I have built a small library of Dark Age literature; Angus Wilson’s The Anglo-Saxons, D.P. Kirby’s the Making of Early England, as well as reading Myres and Stenton, the classic texts on the arrival of the English these shores. I have never lost sight, in all this study, of the beauty of these objects. The red and gold glow of the garnet jewellery, the intricate writhing of the zoomorphic creatures on several of the objects, the clever design of the helmet decoration, still move me. When I saw Janina Ramirez handling these objects on one of her shows, I was jealous for weeks.
Around twenty years ago I attended a talk on the discovery
by Basil Brown, which opened up my eyes to the human story of that event. The
Film The Dig, rightly focuses on
this, whilst also firmly rooting it in the Suffolk Landscape. I looked forward
to watching it and it did not disappoint. So what did I enjoy about it?
First and foremost, it is a film about people, although the
uncovered ship is arguably a character too, one which the others revolve
around. There is no discernible use of CGI (although it may be there in the
background), there are no superheroes, no overblown dialogue, little profanity
(although Basil gives us some Suffolk examples) and no constant inter-cuts,
slow-motion repeats or other tricks that cinema is so fond of.
This as an unfolding story of a taciturn working man, a
widow stoically coping with illness and couple acknowledging they are not right
for each other, and as such it is a delight. Furthermore, there are a number of
things it does not employ which would
undoubtedly would have spoiled it. Firstly, there are plenty of filmmakers who
would have been tempted to recreate the interment with dramatic music and moody
swirling mist as an opening scene. Secondly, it avoids being an archaeology and
history lesson. Basil tells Mrs Pretty that the mounds could be Viking but he
thinks they could be earlier, but he doesn’t bore her, or us, with the
technical detail behind his hunch. Similarly, when Basil hands the director
from the British museum a coin he has just pulled from the earth, he tells him
that it’s Merovingian; but we are spared a character saying: “what’s
Merovingian” and another character replying with either a potted history of the
dynasty of Clovis or a numismatic lecture.
The coins found are of course immensely important in terms
of being able to date the finds. They provide an earliest and latest date at
which the interment could have happened, but this is not laboured in the film,
just briefly referred to.
The understated nature of so much of the interchange between
characters is, to my mind, both true to the period and quintessentially
Suffolk. When we first see Basil taking his bike with him on the ferry across
the river he explains where he is going to the boatman with a single sentence
which he clearly thinks tells the man all he needs to know:
“What’s goin’ on this afternoon then?”
“There’s a lady got an excavating job”.
That is such a great opening scene; one that gives us the
character of Basil Brown and immediately re-assures those of us watching who
hail from Suffolk that Ralph Fiennes has mastered the accent. We can now settle
down to enjoy the film. But it also sets the template for what follows in its
brevity and determination not to over-explain. Fiennes is excellent in this
film. Basil Brown is a local hero and he has done him more than justice.
Carey Mulligan’s performance is equally understated. She
conveys Edith’s sadness as a widow and weariness (caused by her chronic
illness) without histrionics and by saying very little directly. She also shows
the character’s love of history by a subtle shift into being more animated when
talking to Basil. Whether or not there is a romantic attraction between them I
will leave to the viewer to decide. There is certainly a connection based on
mutual understanding.
The showing without telling is never better than when
exploring the relationship of the married couple. When Lily James character
displays herself to her husband and he turns away from the sight of her
nakedness, the viewer already knows why if they have been paying attention. We
have seen her husband wrestling in the rain with one of his male co-workers and
understand where his inclinations lie. The sterility of their marriage is a
tragedy for both of them and the film invites us to sympathise with them both.
The arc of the story is about an outsider getting one over
on the establishment. The social situation of the time allowed Mrs Pretty, as
the aristocratic landowner, to defy the men from the British Museum and support
Basil Brown. This could have gone badly wrong if he was incompetent or careless.
The film is careful to show us that he is neither.
Although the film is slow paced, there is an element of a
race against time. The threat of war draws ever closer; it will bring an end to
further excavations, but it also imperils all the characters. The planes flying
overhead, the troops marching in the lane, let us know what is going on.
There is also an element of this film operating at two
levels; one for the general viewer and one for those of lucky enough to hail
from Suffolk. Only the second group can really appreciate Basils Suffolk
mumble, or the character saying “she’s only been here twelve years” meaning she
is definitely not local. I thoroughly recommend this film to both categories.
You will not be disappointed.
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