Can you imagine unearthing a treasure trove from a bygone era right in your backyard? That's precisely the thrilling premise of "The Dig" by John Preston, which re-imagines the real-life discovery at Sutton Hoo. Join me, Lluvia, as I dissect both the book and its 2021 film adaptation starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes. This episode dives deep into the heart of the Sutton Hoo excavation, exploring the historical context and real-life controversies. I also tackle the contentious casting choices, particularly my disappointment with Carey Mulligan's portrayal of Edith Pretty, a role that should have showcased an older actress. My critique extends to Mulligan's history of appropriating roles meant for Latina actresses, emphasizing the dire need for better representation in Hollywood.
Explore with me the unique elements the film brings to this historical tale, like Robert's touching conversation with Edith about her mortality and the dramatic plane crash scene, both absent from the book. I delve into the film's portrayal of the legal battle over the archaeological treasures, highlighting the significant differences in character portrayals between the book and the screen. The episode paints a vivid comparison, and while I find both mediums to be just "okay," the film edges out for its more engaging narrative. Join the conversation as I navigate the complexities and nuances of adapting historical fiction for the silver screen.
Can you imagine unearthing a treasure trove from a bygone era right in your backyard? That's precisely the thrilling premise of "The Dig" by John Preston, which re-imagines the real-life discovery at Sutton Hoo. Join me, Lluvia, as I dissect both the book and its 2021 film adaptation starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes. This episode dives deep into the heart of the Sutton Hoo excavation, exploring the historical context and real-life controversies. I also tackle the contentious casting choices, particularly my disappointment with Carey Mulligan's portrayal of Edith Pretty, a role that should have showcased an older actress. My critique extends to Mulligan's history of appropriating roles meant for Latina actresses, emphasizing the dire need for better representation in Hollywood.
Explore with me the unique elements the film brings to this historical tale, like Robert's touching conversation with Edith about her mortality and the dramatic plane crash scene, both absent from the book. I delve into the film's portrayal of the legal battle over the archaeological treasures, highlighting the significant differences in character portrayals between the book and the screen. The episode paints a vivid comparison, and while I find both mediums to be just "okay," the film edges out for its more engaging narrative. Join the conversation as I navigate the complexities and nuances of adapting historical fiction for the silver screen.
Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set out to answer the age-old question is the book really always better than the movie? I'm Yuvia, an actress and book lover based out of the New York City area, and today we will be talking about the Dig by John Preston and its 2021 adaptation, the Dig starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes oh boy. So we will see how today's episode goes, mainly because I don't feel very strongly about the film or the book either way. I thought they were both just okay, but we will get into it. We'll get a little bit more into it. I'm going to rant a little bit, especially about one of the cast members. And yeah, so let's get started. Should I? I don't know, I don't know if I should do like a preamble. No, I guess not. Let's, let's get started.
Speaker 1:
So the Dig by John Preston was first published all the way back in 2007. And it is a historical fiction, like the events of the book really did happen, but this is a completely fictionalized retelling of the actual events. So this takes place in 1939 in Britain, specifically a farm in Suffolk, and it is owned by Mrs Pretty. She is a widowed farmer and she has these huge mounds on her property that she thinks hold some kind of archaeological find. And so she hires Mr Brown, basil Brown, to dig up these mounds and find out what hides there, if anything. And sure enough there is. And so this starts to lead to all kinds of jealousies and tension and all just sorts of legal problems, because this is a historical archaeological find that is on her property, but does it belong to her or does it belong to the country of England? That is part of the issue. So this is, as I said, a retelling of the Sutton Hoo dig, which was, this, one of the most important Anglo-Saxon finds in all of England. And, yeah, so this actually happened and you can actually see the actual boat or ship that was found in Seton Hoo in the British Museum in England to this day. But it was not without its source of controversy, because Basil Brown, who was the man who discovered this with you know, he's the one that was hired by Edith Pretty to dig up these mounds was not credited with having discovered them for years and years and years. So it wasn't until fairly recently I don't remember off the top of my head what year that he was finally given credit, but for many years he went uncredited and all these other people that worked for the British Museum got all the credit. Dig, starring Carey Mulligan and Ray Fiennes, is a 2021 adaptation that follows an archaeologist as he discovers one of the most important finds ever in Sutton Hoo in 1938.
Speaker 1:
There's Voldemort. Yes, I'm talking about you. You're ringing your little bells. I'm trying to record my podcast. Okay, he's just looking at me like, excuse you, I'm allowed to make all the noise I want. I'm still talking about you. Yes, sir, and that was the last. That last jingle was just excuse me, mind your own damn business, mama. All right, so let's get started.
Speaker 1:
And why don't we start off with a rant? Because let's just, let's just get this going, which is that Carey Mulligan is cast, or was cast, as Edith Pretty. Edith Pretty is much older well is, yeah, much older than Carey Mulligan. Carey Mulligan was in her 30s when she was cast in this, the real life. Edith Pretty was in her 50s and I'm just very annoyed by this casting, because ageism in Hollywood is a very, very real thing. It's one of those things. It's unfortunate, it's part of the business, but ageism is a very, very real issue and problem, and Carey Mulligan she's she's a great actress. I'm not going to sit here and say she's not, but this is not the first time she's taken a role that she maybe should have said no to. This is this would have great, been a great opportunity for an older actress to show their chops on this. You know, I immediately I feel like Kate Winslet would have done great in this role and, mind you, kate Winslet is not exactly like hungry for roles. But you know, ageism is a thing, it's a very, very real thing, and Terry Mulligan is a very accomplished actress and she is not at this point where she is fighting for roles due to her age.
Speaker 1:
So and I don't think I would be as annoyed as I am had she not already taken two roles away from Latinas yes, she has accepted two roles that should have gone to a Latina and I am obviously, as a Latina myself, I'm very, very, very passionate about this because that's a role that, who knows, maybe I could have gotten cast in one of those roles and that had been my breakthrough. You know it, it's just, it's very, it's something that I feel very, very passionate about and there obviously is like shades of gray and all of this in there, but especially when it comes, latinos are one of the most underrepresented groups in Hollywood and on stage in general. So just to have Carey Mulligan come in here and say, oh yeah, I'll take it. Oh, this is a Latina, that's fine, I can still do it. I know you can still do it. We know you can still do it. You have the acting chops, but you're taking away an opportunity from someone who might not have had that opportunity otherwise. Let's be real, like a Latina, having been cast in the two roles that she ended up taking, would not have taken roles away from her. She is still a very in-demand actress and there's plenty of roles for white women out there. So yes, so yes.
Speaker 1:
Ageism is a thing as it is. As you grow older, your roles start dwindling. That is a very sad part of the industry. It is inevitable. But knowing that it's like you're going to reach a point one day in which you might lose out a role to someone younger than you and you're going to wish that it had gone to you because you're the right age range. So don't do it now. Just let the 50 year old woman take the role. And especially, it's not really explained in the film but in the book especially the significance of her being in her 50s, is very, very important.
Speaker 1:
So Edith Pretty got married very late in life. I say very late for all the time period considered and everything. She got married in her late 30s, which, again, late 30s is not old, but back then, like this was old maid status. So for her to get married as an old maid, that is astounding. Yeah, so she gets married and miraculously gets pregnant with her child Robert in her late 40s. So she gets married and it's a whole 12 years before she gets pregnant with her child and this pregnancy completely wipes her out health-wise. So she is this woman in her 50s getting confused for her son's Like people think that she is her son's grandma instead of his mom and she, this pregnancy takes a huge, huge toll on her health. Ever since she gave birth her health has deteriorated and it's something that she's very worried about.
Speaker 1:
The film does make Edith pretty, a sickly woman but and obviously it is sad because she is a widow there's this fear that she's going to die young and leave her son an orphan. But she has that fear, like that fear is intensified by the fact that she is in her fifties. You know she's already worried about dying and leaving her son an orphan because of her age. So to add her health issues on top of that, like to me. It like her age, knowing that, knowing that background, it's just it's. And Carey Mulligan, as I said, has a history of taking roles that were maybe not written for her. So it, yeah, it's. It's incredibly frustrating and I wish that they had cast an actress that's in her fifties or closer to her fifties, because it makes a lot of sense there. As I said, the she gets constantly confused by people who are just meeting her, thinking that she is her son's grandma and yeah, so, yeah, it just doubles the stakes of I might die and leave my son an orphan, but I mean that risk was already there because of how old I am, yeah, so that is my rant. Yeah, I'm obviously, I don't even. Okay, I'm just gonna move on because I am incredibly worked up.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so the film takes place almost exclusively in Sutton Hoo the book as well, but we do travel outside of Sutton Hoo a little bit more than we do in the film. So in the film, the only time we really travel out of Sutton Hoo is when Robert, at one point, he thinks that Basil Brown is quitting and he's formed like this friendship with Basil and he rides his bike all the way from Sutton Hoo to the nearby village where Basil lives and he's like, are you coming back? And Basil's like, yeah, what are you doing all the way out here? And then there's like another minor scene that takes place just off the grounds of Sutton Hoo. So I still consider that Sutton Hoo, but meanwhile in the book we get glimpses of Edith again being in her 50s and being very. Her health is very questionable. She goes into London a lot and in one portion of the book we actually get to travel into London with her and kind of see how that journey goes. And then we also meet Peggy and her husband outside of Sutton Hoo. They are the archaeologists that get hired later once the British Museum gets involved. So they're the ones that get hired by the British Museum to keep excavating the ship. We meet them outside of Sutton Hoo. So we do get a little bit more glimpses outside of Sutton Hoo than we do in the film.
Speaker 1:
Also, I just really like saying Sutton Hoo, what a fun name. I don't know who came up with that. Obviously this is a real place. I want to know who named it, because it's just fun to say Okay, so Peggy and her husband, stuart they're the ones that, as I mentioned, get hired by the British Museum to continue the excavation yeah, the film goes really, really all out.
Speaker 1:
This is like not even remotely close to being said in the book, but in the film like it's very, very much stated that Stuart is a gay man and obviously this is 1930s time period. So he's a very, very closeted gay man. So he's married to Peggy, more to save face than anything else. And the book doesn't really say that. Like there's very he goes off by himself a lot, like he'll go out of town on business trips and then leave Peggy alone for like long periods of time. But like there's no indication that he's a gay man in the book, like it's just implied that she's not very happy in the marriage because he's not very attentive to her. But not only like the only hint we get in the book, which again is a lot more explicit in the film.
Speaker 1:
There is a part where Peggy is taking a bath in the hotel communal bathroom and she forgets to lock the door. Stuart walks in and he freaks out. He just looks at her and is like what the hell? And then he freaks out on her in the film. He starts like what the hell? Are you thinking I could have been anyone? Why are you just bathing naked? Obviously, how else would you bathe, right? But you know that's. It's like really over the top. Like how dare you like be in here naked and not lock the door? And Peggy's like I don't know why you're freaking out. Like I'm your wife, look at me. And she gets up out of the bathtub and he's like oh gosh, no, I don't want to see you. And so, like that's the first indication we get that he is not straight.
Speaker 1:
So but in the book, like he just walks in and he's like, oh, and he closes the door behind him and he goes back to the room and then she finishes bathing and when she gets back to the room, he's just like, oh, you know, um, sweetheart, be careful, because anyone could have walked in. That wasn't me. So yeah, and that's, that's all that happened. She's just like, oh, okay, yeah, no, for sure, I'll be more careful next time. So it's not like this big blow up that it was in the film.
Speaker 1:
So yeah, so I'm wondering if Stuart Piggott I don't know if he was made up for the film or if he was an actual person. As I said, since this is a recreation retelling, I'm not exact. I know Basil Brown and Edith Pretty for sure are two real people that experienced this, but I don't know about the other characters, so I don't know if, like Stuart Piggott, was an actual, like actual historical person that it ended up coming out later that he was gay and the author did not hint at it well at all in the book. Like I said, there's, like there's nothing to indicate that he's gay in the book other than this, this bathtub scene, which, again, it's just like it was very polite, as opposed to the film, where it's like this huge blowout and it's just like no, I don't want to see your naked body. Like that does not happen. So, yeah, I'm, so I'm. I'm just really curious, like if the reason I'm wondering if he was like a real life person is if that's why the film decided to really, really overtly make him gay, because that's who he was in reality, or if this is just like some very, very, very creative liberties they took with one scene in the book that was kind of questionable, I guess, which I mean, I will say most straight men that I know would, even then would not be like, oh, be careful. Or I mean they might, but I don't know. The point is it still was not very clear that he was gay in the book, if that's what the author intended to portray Moving on. So yes, as I said, robert goes to Basil's house in the film, but and that doesn't happen in the book, because in the book they actually don't become very close to each other Like in the film, like there's, they obviously form a bond with one another.
Speaker 1:
He, like Robert, is very he's an only child. He, he lives like on this huge estate. He doesn't have any other children to play with, because even then he only has his governess, who's on vacation right now because it's the summer, so he has no other children to play with. So I mean, like someone digging up holes in his yard, like he's very excited to help with this, and so he and Basil bond. But they don't bond in the book Like Basil's kind of just like oh, okay, hi, child, please stay out of my way, okay, and yes, he's Basil's just a very awkward man. He's a lot more awkward in the book than he was in the film. So during the excavation of the mounds on Sutton Hoo.
Speaker 1:
The biggest find in the film is the boat, the ship, the Anglo-Saxon ship. That gets everyone like all excited that they found something. But and they find like a few more artifacts, like coins and things like that. But in the book there's like a lot, a lot more treasures that they find. There's like I guess they show like a glimpse of the other treasures in the film, but it's not like I had to like think back on that because I was like wait a minute. No, there I guess there are like other treasures, but even then there are like definitely a lot more treasures are found in the book than just the like. The ship is the main focus of the film, but in the book, like there's definitely a lot more anglo-saxon treasures that they find and they're really excited to find. And towards the end in the epilogue it's actually revealed that they found a body, like a mummified body, which confirms that this whole area had actually been like a burial chamber. So yeah, that's not really mentioned in the film. So yeah, there's definitely a lot more. There's just a lot more stuff to find than the ship.
Speaker 1:
Edith Pretty has a nephew named Rory who she brings on in the film early on to help Basil with the excavation and he's also a photographer. So once the British Museum gets involved he kind of like the British Museum is very much like no one can touch this excavation site except people from the British Museum. Basil we allow because we have to, but we don't really want him to die, do it either. So at that point Rory switches over to just taking pictures and in the film he and Peggy definitely have a thing going on, especially because you know Peggy starts realizing you know what my husband is not attracted to me and this hot young man is, so I'm going to hook up with him. And they do end up hooking up right before he enlisted. No, he's enlisted already. So they hook up right before he goes to boot camp or training camp I'm sure they have boot camp in the UK still, but whatever, before he goes off to training, his military training, they hook up and have a night of passion before he leaves.
Speaker 1:
And this does not happen in the book. Actually Rory has a very, very, very small role in the book, like the he. He does come on as a photographer, but he was never like involved with the excavation early on or anything, and yeah. So yeah, rory is like not important in the book at all, like even at one point Peggy or someone I don't even think it's Peggy, she there might have been Robert mentioning in the epilogue. Yeah, I think Robert mentions it in the epilogue that he ran into Peggy one day and she asks him oh, you know how's your cousin doing? And he's like, oh, my cousin died in the war. And she's like, oh, okay, well, that's sad and that's that's how we find out the fate of Rory in the book. But otherwise, like, he's not an important character. He definitely has a much more important role in the film and that's mainly so.
Speaker 1:
Peggy can have a little bit of a happy ending Well, happy then sad. But she gets a moment of happiness from her unhappy marriage for a little bit in the film, in the film as well. So again, I don't remember exactly what Edith has in the film, in the film as well. So again, I don't remember exactly what Edith has in the film, like what ails her. As I said in the book, her health is very much tied to her late pregnancy. The film she's I like I said, I don't remember exactly what it is, but I think it's like tuberculosis adjacent. No, not tuberculosis, it's like something with her lungs, if I'm not mistaken. So you know she's she like at one point Robert asks her oh my gosh, like are you going to die? And she says, well, you know, maybe, but I'm going to try not to because I don't want to leave you an orphan.
Speaker 1:
And they have like this moment where they, where you know he's freaking out because like war is imminent and his mom could possibly die, and so, yes, he's just having a very vulnerable moment as a child where all these things are happening at once and so he like gets really worried about his mother and so they have this, this really touching moment. But that does not happen in the book. Like they never have this conversation. Robert is continues to be like obviously he knows his mom is sick, but he doesn't like he's not very. I don't think he has like the mental capacity or at that point, due to his age, to really understand how bad his mom's health is. So they don't have this conversation. Again, robert just reveals in his epilogue that his mom dies during the war and he was sent to live with her cousins who raised him. So yeah, but no, there is no heartfelt conversation between Edith and Robert in the book about her mortality, essentially.
Speaker 1:
And there's also a scene in the film where they're having like Edith, like these people over to see the site, much to the chagrin of Mr Phillips and the British Museum, but there's nothing they can do about it. It's her private property. And while they're having this party, they see a plane like fall from the sky and they run to where it landed and it landed like on a little river, stream, creek, water place, like close enough to her property, I guess like that would be the property line, and it's a random pilot that ends up dying and they try to rescue him but he's like sunk to the bottom and peggy, like, once they realize that he could possibly be dead, peggy takes robert and she's like, oh my gosh, robert, I'm not feeling good, like please take care of me and robert's like of, of course, peggy, I'm gonna go get you some water and like. So they go back to Sutton Hoo, while they deal with this pilot that does not happen in the book Like they do see a plane fly across and fall, but they don't go investigate to see what happened. They're just like it's a guy that's showing off. Let him be. So, yeah, they clearly don't care about this poor pilot in the book. But yeah, that's the really.
Speaker 1:
The only other main difference between the book and the film is that in the book there is a legal battle between Sutton Hoo and the British Museum, as they so the British Museum wants to be like this is property of the British Museum because this was found. These are like, yes, this was found on private property, but because of the historical significance of it and everything like this belongs to the country of England and we ask that the country of England then gift it to the British Museum. And obviously Edith is fighting for the rights to the ship well, to the site and everything that's found on the site, because it was found on her property, and it ultimately ends up ruling in her favor. So she gets to do with this really important archaeological site as she sees fit, and so she ends up covering everything back up. It's pretty obvious at this point that the country is about to go to war and World War II, and so she wants instead, like it would take so much, there would be like no way to tell how long it would take to excavate, excavate everything and put it in a safe place. So she asks for everything this, these like weeks and weeks spent digging everything. She asks that it all be covered up and hopefully it'll stay safe throughout the remainder of the war, which does happen, and that's that's kind of the last of it. I don't even think, like Robert reveals what happened, as in the film, this trial doesn't happen. There is like contention but like pretty much everyone doesn't argue that it's Edith's property and she can do with it as she wants. And so Basil works for the Ipswich Museum Ipswich Museum in Suffolk and since he was hired byith Pretty, the Ipswich Museum wants it for their museum but she decides to gift it to the British Museum and you know she asks for Basil's forgiveness and just you know she's like I hope you don't mind, but decided to give it to them, but we're still gonna cover everything back up and once this war is over they'll come back and excavate it and take it to the museum. And he's like I mean, it's up to you, you do what you want and that's that. That's the dig.
Speaker 1:
This is, as I said, it's a recreation, a retelling of actual events, and I mean Carey Mulligan was fine, like I said, she's a good actress. I'm not going to sit here and say she's not, but I wish she would be more considerate of the roles that she is taking. And Ralph Fiennes as Basil was also fine. I mean, yeah, I think Basil in the book is definitely a lot more awkward and introverted and like just he. He's just a lot more like socially not talented, and Ralph Fiennes plays him a little bit. He doesn't like the only thing he gives him is like he does like this vocal quality with his voice which makes him sound a little bit more endearing, I guess, but he's definitely not. I wouldn't categorize him as like oh yeah, that sounds like really awkward the way he is in the book. Lily James as Peggy Piggott is great and, yeah, I mean, overall, this is a pretty faithful telling of the book.
Speaker 1:
I personally, though, was not a huge fan of either one. I found both of them to just be okay. I rated the book three stars, and I rated the film three stars as well. If I had to recommend one over the other, though, I would say the film, just because I, in my opinion, the author, other than the trial, which I was actually very interested in to see how that played out. I thought I would choose the film over the book in this case. So the winner is the film and, like I said, it's more to do with what, like the acting.
Speaker 1:
They're both very, very, very slow and, honestly, after reading the book and after watching the film, I'm not sure if that this is like something that is universally interesting, like I'm not exactly sure why this was the part of history that was told that was chosen to be retold when it's. I didn't find it very interesting, like there's sometimes when I read something fictional retelling of actual events that get me really interested in the events. Not in this one. I don't really have I want to like next time I go to London I definitely want to go to the British Museum and see the ship because that sounds really cool. But do I want to do more research and find out more about this thing? No, and that's kind of how I felt after watching.
Speaker 1:
I watched the film first and then I read the book and, yeah, I think the pacing for both of them is just a little bit too slow. But you know what? The film got great reviews. The performances are overall great. I'm not sure I necessarily would give the film a glowing review. It does have very, very good reviews overall. Not sure, as I said, that I fall into that category, but I would still recommend the film over the book. They're both very, very, very slow paced, but at least with the film, like, there is that visual component and you can get entertained by the acting, which is great. But yeah, that's it. I'm not sure what I'm reviewing next time. Are you getting a lot of surprises? So see you next time.
Speaker 1:
Books versus movies is edited. Everything is done by me. You, via. I do it all by myself, 100% me. Please help me spread the word about this podcast, which is a passion project of mine. I absolutely love doing this podcast and I hope that you're enjoying listening to it. Please leave a rating and a review and share it with your friends. Tell your friends about it. Help me spread the word and I will see you next time. Bye.