Phillips.īut Moira Buffini’s screenplay, adapted from John Preston’s 2007 historical novel of the same name, stuffs its plot full of thwarted and unrequited and half-requited loves. Not to mention the looming clouds of conflict – Britain would be at war before the end of the summer – and the machinations of the nasty Mr. I’d have been happy enough watching the painstaking progression of the work, along with its occasional perils – a cave-in almost kills Brown, while a sudden rainstorm threatens to flood the entire site. His careful exploration soon reveals the remains of a ship burial from before the time of the Vikings. Brown concludes, one of them is misshapen, leading would-be robbers to have plumbed the wrong portion for treasure. The circular ones at Sutton Hoo have been visible for centuries, and many have been plundered of their valuables, but as the clever Mr. The snooty Charles Phillips (Ken Stott) from the local museum is more than happy to slap that label on him as well.īurial mounds are mysteries hiding in plain sight. He’s clearly a knowledgeable archaeologist (and a decent astronomer to boot) but owing to a lack of formal education he refers to himself as an excavator.

The film opens with Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) agreeing to do some digging into the ancient mounds that dot the property of widow Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan). If your interest in scientific-discovery biopics runs toward the likes of Tells the story of the 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo, a 6th-century burial site in East Anglia in the East of England.

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