If you grew up in England, you probably studied at Sutton Hoo in 1939 at school. But for us across the dam, The digging on Netflix, the audience has a lot to learn about the true story of one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Novelist John Preston educated the masses with his 2007 novel The digging, now adapted for screen by writer Moira Buffini and director Simon Stone, and started streaming on Netflix on Friday. But The digging based on a true story, the key source material is not so much history but also a historical novel. So sit back, enjoy the story and take part in the amazing performances of Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes – but if you’re interested in what really happened, you can buy a non-fiction book. Let’s get started The digging true story, and how accurate The digging is.
IS THE POEM BASED ON A TRUE STORY?
Yes. The digging tells the true story of English landowner Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan), who hired archaeologist Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to dig the mysterious hills on her Sutton Hoo estate in southeast Suffolk in 1937.
WHAT IS THE POEM TRUE STORY? WHO WAS BASIL BROWN? WHAT IS SUTTON HOO?
Basil Brown was a self-taught archaeologist and astronomer who was only recently recognized for his important role in the field. In 1939, two years after he was hired, Brown’s excavation team discovered a near-in-tact ship from the 7th century, complete with a room full of trinkets and treasures, such as masks, helmets, and more.
The discovery was revolutionary in historians’ understanding of the early Anglo-Saxon people who lived in medieval Britain. Weapons discovered indicate that the ship may have belonged to a great war leader, a lyre spoke about the people’s music and artists, and a Scandinavian shield suggested diplomacy with other countries. The most famous discovery was the Sutton Hoo helmet, which was reconstructed by the British Museum and became an important image of the Anglo-Saxon period.
HOW Accurate is THE POEM?
Most of the main characters in The digging is based on real people, and the Sutton Hoo excavation was certainly genuine and meaningful. However, great liberties were 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 cousin, 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 an actual archaeologist at the excavation, as was Charles Phillips (played by Ken Stott).
The only main character that is completely fictional is the one played by Johnny Flynn, aka the photographer Rory. The whirlwind romance between Peggy and Rory in The digging is where the film transitions into the “fictional” category of historical fiction. (It is true that the real Peggy Piggot and her husband Stuart Piggott were divorced after the excavation and divorced in 1956.)
In an interview with Decider about his character in The diggingFlynn 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, made this fantastic device with Rory, where you find someone who allows you to see Peggy. You can see Lily James’ character through his eyes and make her realize that she is not happy in her marriage. ”
Other moments were dramatized by Preston in his historical novel, including the collapse of Fiennes’s Brown, and, as far as I can see, the tension between Brown and The British Museum.
In response to criticism from critics of The Dig’s creative freedoms, Flynn added:Shakespeare has taken quite a few licenses Macbeth, Hamlet, en Troilus and Cressida. Ultimately, it’s a story, and if you have to make stories work within a few months, you need to put people and events and characters together and try to translate them for people. ‘
Look The digging on Netflix