The DigI knew quite a bit about the background for the Sutton Hoo dig and am well acquainted with the finds on display in the British Museum. Archaeology and historical jewelry are two of my big fields of interest, so I threw myself at this film as soon as it became available on Netflix.
I liked how quiet and low-key it was, how much went unsaid or was said with a minimum of words. I liked the setting and how much the landscapes were showcased. The two main characters were very appealing, they seemed human and humane, decent, multi-layered, relatable. Superb acting.
The purpose of the film seemed to be to give the viewers insight into the lives that were most connected with and touched by the Sutton Hoo find, at the point in time of the excavation but drawing lines from their past and into their futures, putting the big issues they grapple with - life, death, legacy - in relief when played out with the ancient Anglo-Saxon burial as backdrop. The film did not give a complete overview over the excavation and the finds - that wasn't the main purpose, I think. The timeline had been significantly compressed, as happens in all such movies.
So yeah, I should have really enjoyed this. Why didn't I?
The landowner, Mrs. Pretty, was 56 years of age during the dig in 1939. Carey Mulligan who plays her was 35 at the time of filming.
Another important character, archaeologist Peggy Piggott, is played by Lily James, who I must say gets a lot of 'everywoman' roles when she is anything but your ordinary woman. Maybe male filmmakers think that's how every woman OUGHT to look. Or they think they need a gorgeous babe to draw an audience.
Anyway, beautiful Lily has been fitted out with a pair of glasses to make her seem more bookish and dowdy, I assume.
Lily's character comes across as a bit clueless, emotional and ditzy, stumbling into finding the first jewels, not realizing her hubby is gay... The whole characterization seems off, compared to who this woman really was and what she achieved professionally IRL.
In addition, they saddle Peggy with a (fictional) handsome love interest, and Mrs. Pretty is also shown to be romantically interested in her hired excavator.
So my main gripe? Interesting, active, knowledgable real life women with important roles to play in historic events apparently cannot be portrayed on screen the way they looked, nor looking their actual age. Not even in a serious, artsy movie like this. They have to be prettified, de-aged, made more cute and consequently less 'threatening', and their overt sex appeal must be increased. And they have to be engaged in romance, - what else could they find to occupy their little lives?
In short, the portrayal of the two main women characters, specifically all the unnecessary changes made compared to their RL personas, pisses me off.