Ralph Fiennes disappears brilliantly into the character of Basil Brown. Carey Mulligan is way too youthful for the character she plays , Mrs. Pretty, but she does an excellent job nonetheless. The movie educated me about a field -archaeology and excavating --and a discovery (Sutton Hoo) that I knew nothing about.
The storytelling of the film has an unusual structure, and I see that some other reviewers have complained about it. They miss the point. The film starts with two main characters - an elderly excavator trained by his father and a kind but sickly aristocratic land-owner. Halfway through, the film unfolds and we start following a team of university-educated archaeologists and eventually focus on two young people who have a lust for life and, seemingly , for each other. In this, the film mirrors the transition that Great Britain experienced as it transitioned through the 20th century and especially through WW-II. At film's end, our first two characters are remembered on a plaque, but Great Britain belongs to a different generation.
Its subtle, but powerful, storytelling.
The storytelling of the film has an unusual structure, and I see that some other reviewers have complained about it. They miss the point. The film starts with two main characters - an elderly excavator trained by his father and a kind but sickly aristocratic land-owner. Halfway through, the film unfolds and we start following a team of university-educated archaeologists and eventually focus on two young people who have a lust for life and, seemingly , for each other. In this, the film mirrors the transition that Great Britain experienced as it transitioned through the 20th century and especially through WW-II. At film's end, our first two characters are remembered on a plaque, but Great Britain belongs to a different generation.
Its subtle, but powerful, storytelling.