The Dig (2021)

Ruined by "nee-na's" - The Dig review by JK

Archeology is a bit of a Marmite subject:  Either you are fascinated by lumps of old wood or metal covered in soil - or you're not.  I'm not, but this didn't detract from this being a gentle, well acted film.  Feinnes has the Suffolk accent down to a tee and all the other characters were well developed - which is a good job because once they had dug out what looked like a whale skeleton there wasn't that much plot left to explore so you focussed on the burgeoning love aspects, the snobbery of the 'academics/professionals' who failed to acknowledge the person whose knowledge left the rest of them standing but who wasn't 'educated' enough to be mentioned in dispatches.

My great bugbear, (as with so many of todays films), is the bloody awful 'music' which plonked it's way through almost the entire film - for absolutely no reason.  Fabulous shots of the vast skies and open spaces that are Suffolk cried out for nothing but silence or birdsong - indeed, birdsong is specifically mentioned during the film but we never got to hear it.  Instead, this incessant "nee-na" piano accompaniment  which sounded like someone's kid doing their Grade 2 practice after a tough day at school.  Why?  Why do so many films these days have to have this awful, 'death-by-arpeggio' piano droning on throughout?  It adds nothing whatsoever to the film - it's just annoying.  At some point about two thirds of the way through, my co-watcher and I looked at each other and remarked that the music had stopped and we could actually hear and appreciate what was being said.  No sooner had we acknowledged this than it started up again.

Most galling is that the credits feature a 'composer' - what both notes?  The likes of Bernard Hermann, Dmitri Shostakovich, Eric Korngold etc. must be turning in their graves. 

Lovely, Gentle Drama - The Dig review by GI

This is one of those period English dramas that oozes charm and a nostalgic vision of a past time, in this case the late 1930s on the eve of the Second World War. It's based on a true story but reimagines the nature of relationships and adds fictional characters. The story centres around the discovery of the Sutton Hoo treasures. Carey Mulligan plays wealthy landowning widow Edith Pretty who has long been curious about the ancient mounds on her Suffolk land. She hires Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) a renowned local archaeologist to excavate the mounds and against the odds he finds a buried ship and much more. The establishment in the guise of a pompous expert (Ken Stott) comes from the British museum to take over the dig. The first act of the film as the relationship between Edith and Basil develops in a sort of restrained romance and the mound reveals its first treasures is arresting and sets a firm sense of the time and place with all the class issues neatly reflected in the clipped accents and local drawl. The second act ditches that to focus on a real romance between two of the diggers at the site played by Lily James and Johnny Flynn. This has less impact and almost overshadows the more interesting characters of Basil and Edith. Overall though this is a comfortable, interesting and gentle film that is a very pleasant evening's viewing. Recommended.

I dug it! - The Dig review by cr

When you think soil and archaeology it doesnt really inspire interest but you would be wrong. Highly educated self taught archaeologist local played by the brilliant ralph fiennes is employed to dig the mounds on the land of a wealthy widow.

The film covers love loss relationships and war. Unlike the other reviewer i loved the music and i thought the combination of the themes in the film and the music was incredibly moving.

Best british film in years. Recommended.