If you grew up in England, you probably learned about the 1939 Sutton Hoo dig at school. But for those of us across the pond, Excavation on Netflix you have a lot to teach the public about the true story of one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Novelist John Preston started educating the masses with his 2007 novel Excavation, which has now been adapted for screens by writer Moira Buffini and director Simon Stone, and started airing on Netflix on Friday. However, although Excavation is based on a real story, the main source of material is not so much the story as a historical novel. So relax, enjoy the story and watch the great performances by Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes – but if you’re interested in what really happened, you may want to buy a non-fiction book. Lets go in Excavation true story, and how accurate Excavation is.
IS EXCAVATION 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 hills at his Sutton Hoo estate in southeastern Suffolk in 1937.
WHICH IS EXCAVATION 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 significant role in the field. In 1939, two years after being hired, Brown’s excavation team discovered an almost intact 7th-century ship, complete with a chamber full of trinkets and treasures such as masks, helmets and more.
The discovery was revolutionary in the understanding of historians of the first Anglo-Saxon peoples who lived in medieval Britain. The discovered weapons suggested that the ship may have belonged to a great war leader, a lyre spoke of the people’s music and art, and a Scandinavian shield suggested diplomacy with other countries. The most famous discovery was the Sutton Hoo helmet, which was rebuilt by the British Museum and became a key image of the Anglo-Saxon period.
HOW I NEED IT EXCAVATION?
Most of the main characters in Excavation are based on real people, and Sutton Hoo’s excavation was definitely real and significant. However, great freedoms 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 true archaeologist present in the excavation, as was Charles Phillips (played by Ken Stott).
The only entirely fictional main character is that played by Johnny Flynn, also known as Rory, the photographer. The turbulent romance between Peggy and Rory in Excavation it 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 is really the only character in the story who is not a real person. John Preston, the novelist, and Moira Buffini, the screenwriter, created this fantastic device with Rory, where you find someone who lets you see Peggy. You can see the character of Lily James 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 in Brown of Fiennes and, as far as I can tell, the tension between Brown and the British Museum.
In response to reviewers’ criticisms of The Dig’s creative freedoms, Flynn added: “Shakespeare obtained some licenses in Macbeth, Villageand Troilus and Cressida. It’s a story at the end, and when you have to make the stories work over the course of several months, you have to mix people and events and characters and try to translate that to people ”.
To see Excavation on Netflix