{"id":22146,"date":"2021-02-05T13:13:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T21:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=22146"},"modified":"2021-02-05T13:13:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T21:13:51","slug":"the-dig-is-a-rewarding-undertaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=22146","title":{"rendered":"THE DIG Is a Rewarding Undertaking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/24_0009_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14439\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This feature is currently available to stream on Netflix.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The field of archeology and excavation have served as\nincredible and informative windows into the past, helping paint a more accurate\npicture of lives lost centuries ago. Many feature films use the profession as a\nmeans of setting up an action\/adventure narrative and several have done it\neffectively. However, there are also some amazing true stories and the personal\ntrials involved in uncovering these artifacts. <em>The Dig<\/em> is a biopic that\ndetails one such tale. There isn\u2019t a great deal of action involved, but it is a\nremarkably well-acted and engrossing low-key drama with an emphasis on the\npersonalities involved in one such find. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Dig-03.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22148\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With World War II looming, ailing English landowner Edith\nPretty (Carey Mulligan) contacts a provincial excavator named Basil Brown\n(Ralph Fiennes) to help her on a pet project. She hopes that there may be\nsomething, perhaps from the era of Vikings, hidden underneath large mounds of\ndirt sitting on her property. The two very different but determined personalities\nfind common ground and slowly uncover something special. This attracts the\nattention of outside forces, including snobby Cambridge archeologist, Charles\nPhillips (Ken Stott). He and his professional cohorts arrive and begin wrestling\nthe find away from its original discover. With the war certain to stop all progress,\nmore characters associated with Pretty and Phillips rush to the scene to help.\nThe film not only deals with the dig, but the lives of all involved as they locate\nold relics and contemplate their own lives and history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Dig-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22150\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All of the characters introduced quietly grapple with\npersonal issues and early sections subtly address their motivation for this\nunusual undertaking. Widow Pretty is much sicker than she lets on in public and\nis wrestling with her own mortality and what will be left behind for her young\nson (Archie Barnes). Brown is obsessed with his work (at the expense of his\nwife), feels undervalued for his skills and is rightfully concerned about being\ntossed aside with the arrival of more prominent names at the site. Even the new\nteam members who show up have their own problems. We briefly get hints of how\nPhillips and a local museum are motivated to profit for the discovery. The\nexperience also causes friction between two married archeologists (Lily James\nand Ben Chaplin) after one of them begins spending extended periods of time with\nPretty\u2019s cousin, Rory (Johnny Flynn). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Dig-04-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22149\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are actually numerous subplots and the romance might\nseem like a stretch, but the performers are all charismatic and manage to sell\nthe burgeoning relationship. There are also some sweet moments as a surrogate\nfather\/son relationship between Brown and Pretty\u2019s young son begins to form. As\nfor drama, there are few shouting matches between these characters and\neverything is understated, but the movie does an admirable job of addressing\nthe conflicts that these stubborn personalities face in their daily lives. The\nmovie also looks very attractive, with scenic photography of the estate during\nsunset and under various weather conditions. Of course, the dig site itself is\nvisually interesting as the principal discovery is unearthed and viewers see items\nbeing swept from under the dirt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While it isn\u2019t a showy exercise, <em>The Dig<\/em> is a\ncompelling narrative about the profession. And the feature cleverly uses archeological\nmetaphors about looking for relics and discovering new findings and details\nabout our common past. In the case of this story, the moral ends up being\napplicable to those directly involved in the excavation. The lessons learned\ncan also be applicable to modern life. As such, this undertaking is rewarding\nand one worth your time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This feature is currently available to stream on Netflix. The field of archeology and excavation have served as incredible and informative windows into the past, helping paint a more accurate picture of lives lost centuries ago. Many feature films use the profession as a means of setting up an action\/adventure narrative and several have done [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[206,1762,2514,2789,3903,5868,5919,6251,6985,7185,8152,9200,10941,11583,12414,14680,16623,18276,20499,20500,20501,20502,23469],"class_list":["post-22146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-206","tag-archeology","tag-ben-chaplin","tag-biopic","tag-carey-mulligan","tag-digging","tag-discovery","tag-drama","tag-england","tag-excavation","tag-gems","tag-historical","tag-johnny-flynn","tag-ken-scott","tag-lily-james","tag-netflix","tag-ralph-fiennes","tag-ship","tag-the-dig","tag-the-dig-film-review","tag-the-dig-movie-review","tag-the-dig-review","tag-uk"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}