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If you grew up in England, you probably heard about the Sutton Hoo excavation in 1939 at school. But for those of us across the pond, Excavation on Netflix has much to teach the public about the true story of one of the 20th century’s most important archaeological finds.
Novelist John Preston sets out to educate the masses with his 2007 novel Excavation, which has now been adapted for the screen by writer Moira Buffini and director Simon Stone, and began streaming on Netflix on Friday. However, although Excavation is based on a true story, the main source is not so much the story as it is a historical novel. So sit back, enjoy the story, and witness the excellent performances by Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes – but if you’re interested in what really happened, you might want to buy a non-fiction book. Let’s enter Excavation true story and how Excavation is.
IS THE DIG BASED ON A TRUE STORY?
Yes. Excavation tells the true story of English landowner Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan), who hired archaeologist Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) to excavate the mysterious mounds of her Sutton Hoo estate in South East Suffolk in 1937.
WHAT IS THE DIG TRUE STORY? WHO WAS BASIL BROWN? WHAT IS SUTTON HOO?
Basil Brown was a self-taught archaeologist and astronomer who was only recently credited for his important role in the field. In 1939, two years after he was hired, Brown’s excavation team discovered a nearly intact 7th century vessel, with a chamber full of trinkets and treasures, such as masks, helmets, and more.
The discovery was revolutionary in historians’ understanding of the early Anglo-Saxon peoples who lived in medieval Britain. The weapons discovered suggested that the ship may have belonged to a great warlord, a lyre spoke of the music and art of the people, and a Scandinavian shield suggested diplomacy with other countries. The most famous find was the Sutton Hoo helmet, which was reconstructed by the British Museum and became a key image of the Anglo-Saxon period.
WHAT IS THE PRECISION THE DIG?
Most of the main characters of Excavation are based on real people, and the Sutton Hoo excavation was really real and important. 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 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 real archaeologist present at the excavation, as was Charles Phillips (played by Ken Stott).
The only fully fictional main character is the one played by Johnny Flynn, aka Rory the Photographer. The whirlwind romance between Peggy and Rory in Excavation This is where the film falls into 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 Excavation, Flynn said, “I love the character because he’s actually the only character in the story who isn’t a real person. John Preston, the novelist, and Moira Buffini, the screenwriter, created this fantastic device with Rory, where you get someone who lets you see Peggy. You see Lily James’ character through her 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 the collapse on Fiennes’s Brown and, as far as I know, the tension between Brown and the British Museum.
Responding to criticism from critics of The Dig’s creative freedoms, Flynn added, “Shakespeare took quite a few licenses in Macbeth, Hamlet, and Troilus and Cressida. It’s a story at the end, and when you have to make stories work over the span of several months, you have to match people, events, and characters and try to translate that to people. “
Watch Excavation on Netflix
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