BASIL BROWN, played in
The Dig by Ralph Fiennes, was the principal archaeologist behind the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England. It is now considered one of the most important finds in Britain, the majesty of its 27-metre burial ship and 7th-century Anglo-Saxon treasures reframing historians’ view of the so-called Dark Ages.
However, it was very nearly missed – and Brown wasn’t always acknowledged for his efforts. He was a self-educated archaeologist and astronomer, who spent much of his income as a tenant farmer and insurance agent on that education. Being an independent scholar without an academic post was an irregularity that led to the omission of his name at the British Museum’s display of the Sutton Hoo treasures for decades.
Wasn t there an actor of the correct age? Netflix is slammed for casting Carey Mulligan, 35, as a 56-year-old in The Dig – as fans claim ‘women over 40 are invisible’ to movie makers
The Dig is based on John Preston s 2007 novel about the unearthing of the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in 1939
Screen star Carey, 35, plays 56-year-old landowner Edith Pretty - a role originally intended for Nicole Kidman, 53 - in the movie
Viewers took to Twitter to question the network s decision, with one claiming: women over 40 are still invisible in the culture
Director Simon Stone has previously defended the thespian s portrayal of Edith, who passed away aged 59 after suffering a stroke in 1942
Rating:
A little like the remarkable event it dramatises the unearthing of the famous Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk The Dig yields treasure after treasure.
The acting glitters brightest, but Simon Stone s direction, Moira Buffini s screenplay and Mike Eley s cinematography are just as cherishable. It s a film of enormous, completely enveloping charm.
Moreover, it is especially welcome at a time when the rules of period drama, doubtless influenced by the success of The Favourite (2018), are being redrafted.
On TV, hits such as Bridgerton and The Great rely heavily on sex, glib anachronisms, flashy camera work, more sex, deliberately flamboyant acting, over-the-top design, and still more sex.
THE LITTLE THINGS: 3 STARS The Little Things, a Los Angeles-set crime drama now available in select theatres and on PVOD, features a trio of Oscar winners in a dark story that shows the soft underbelly of the glamour capitol. Set in 1990, pre-DNA testing, this is a story of old-fashioned police work. Wits, stakeouts, payphones, and bleary eyes are their tools; obsession and black coffee fuel them. Oscar winner number one Denzel Washington is Joe Deacon, a deputy sheriff in small town California, whose job as a big city detective is long in the rearview mirror. When he joins strait-laced LAPD detective Sgt. Jim Baxter (Oscar winner number two, Rami Malek) on the hunt for a serial murderer, they focus on Albert Sparma (Oscar winner number three, Jared Leto) an off-kilter character they suspect is the killer. Turns out, their case reverberates with echoes from Deacon’s troubled past.
Review: Netflix s The Dig excavates unexpected, worthy drama thanks to Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.