THE PAST TELLS A STORY

DIRECTOR DIGS THROUGH STORIES WITH CAMERA

By PETER THOMAS BUSCH

The fighter planes pass overhead as a metaphor for the past telling the future.

On the ground, a self-taught archeologist begins to dig about in five of 18 earthen mounds. The dig soon becomes the narrative device as the more revealed about the archeological find the more becomes know about the individual characters involved.

Carey Mulligan plays biopic landowner, Edith Pretty, who had suspected the mounds might indicate buried historical treasures, but she had not anticipated an Anglo-Saxon burial ship that would be the most important archeological discovery to date. 

The archeological find revealed that the Dark Ages were not as dark as archeologists had previously suspected.

Ralph Fiennes plays the self-taught archeologist Basil Brown. Fiennes creates a distinct character for the role, quite humble next to the more learned professionally trained archeologists. 

Brown is also subservient to the landlord when property owners and renters were of different social classes in 1938.

Fiennes portrays the humility of the lower class by keeping his head down, and by seldom looking the upper class straight in the eyes. Brown is a determined archeologist, passionate about uncovering history, bothered not so much by his place than by uncovering the markers of the past that still exists in the earth.

Director Simon Stone uses more than one analogy to suggest the importance of the archeological find.

The RAF squadron flies overhead more than once. And then one lone pilot crashes and drowns in the nearby ocean estuary.

The drowned pilot is found in his submerged plane just like the archeologists find the burial chamber in the Anglos-Saxon ship. 

Stone holds back a bit on the dramatizations, and instead directs the scenes with realism. For example, Stone illustrates the damage the rains have caused to the dig over the centuries by showing how wet the excavators become in just a brief moment in time outside in the rains.

The narrative has various subplots, including one regarding the terminal illness of Pretty. Mulligan shows how Pretty’s health deteriorates, eventually using a walking cane to emphasize the physical difficulty already showing in her face and body language.

The dig itself has a bit of drama as the museum officials start lobbying for the final home of the treasures. And Brown must establish himself as a person of importance without over stepping professionally trained museum officials.

Fiennes is the lead actor driving the narrative, but his character does not overshadow Mulligan’s acting, whose character is very much in charge of her estate and the archeological dig. Brown is quick to show respect to her by his willingness to serve.

The director maintains a significant presence in the film with the camera carefully arranged differently at different angles and in different patterns of natural lights for almost every scene.

Fiennes may be in charge of the dig, but Mulligan manages the estate and Stone controls how the story is portrayed.

Stone quite often creates portraits instead of action scenes, including one scene in which the mobile trailer next to the dig is the subject matter, and the actors inside the trailer have little to do or say even though the audio of their lines can be heard over top of the scene like a music score over a photograph.

Brown describes history as the past talking. And Stone tries to make the camera explain a lot about the importance of the Sutton Hoo archeological find to the national history of England.

Stone also uses sound advances to transition scenes, while creating visually stimulating scenes by shooting a foreground as well as a background in the same image.

Lily James has a part in a sublot as archeologist Peggy Piggott. James also had a supporting role in Darkest Hour (2017), as Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s personal secretary.

Stone also stays in charge by using an original music score to drive several scenes, creating suspense in sync with the actor’s rising dialogue. 

Stone seems to be the real excavator moving the camera into a three dimensional scene while the music score can be heard over top of important dialogue.

The film role would have been so easy for an experienced leading actor to just memorize his lines and walk through the script, but Fiennes creates an interesting character that is delightful to watch working through the scenes apart from the other characters, divided by social class and professional standing, but always rising above the social conflict, and being quite content with his self-image as a learned man.

Fiennes also does not have to be in every scene to remain noteworthy, nor does he have to dominate the many scenes he is in.

Mulligan often walks into the scene to remind everyone that Pretty is still in charge of the dig on her land despite her obvious deteriorating health.

The Dig is currently streaming on Netflix.