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‘Wicked Little Letters’ Review: Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley Play Sworn Enemies in Saucy Libel-Case Satire
A hundred years ago, before email and social media found ways to slap us in the face with unsolicited obscenity on a daily basis, the quiet English town of Littlehampton was scandalized by an outburst of poison pen letters — a nasty case of epistolary terrorism that today might be lumped under the heading of “trolling.” Someone with lovely penmanship and a very salty vocabulary dashed off dozens (if not hundreds) of blisteringly offensive notes to members of the seaside community, igniting a police investigation and a series of trials breathlessly covered by the local press, then largely forgotten for almost a century.
A bawdy black comedy that isn’t nearly as “outrageous” as it would have you believe, “Wicked Little Letters” offers a tongue-in-cheek retelling of those events for the Merchant Ivory set. Titillating profanity aside, it’s a relatively tame critique of 1920s gender dynamics, focusing on the two women at the center of the affair — a sour-puss spinster named Edith Swan, who received the bulk of the harassment, and her disruptive Irish neighbor, Rose Gooding, whom she accused of sending the raunchy missives — as well as the female detective responsible for untangling the mystery.
It doesn’t take much of a detective to realize that adds up to something fairly rare: a period film with three substantial leading roles for women, set (in the words of the local priest) at “a time when morality is threatened and women everywhere are losing their decorum.” Small wonder, then, that director Thea Sharrock attracted such a strong cast.
Edith is played by Olivia Colman with an exaggerated piousness that tips toward cartoonish, while the part of force-of-nature Rose proves perfectly suited to “Wild Rose” star Jessie Buckley. As a single mom with a Black boyfriend (Malachi Kirby) who drinks and swears and makes love at all hours, Rose challenges the puritanical patriarchy to which her neighbors kowtow (in one scene, her “furious jumping” nearly dislodges the crucifix hanging from long-suffering Edith’s wall). The two characters could hardly be more different, and yet we’re told they were once best friends.
Edith lives at home with an insufferably strict father (Timothy Spall), who spouts off about women’s suffrage and other perceived threats to his authority, while Rose doesn’t hesitate to tell people what she thinks of them. For a time, Edith found a kind of vicarious satisfaction in Rose’s liberated attitude. But now that Edith imagines herself on the receiving end of Rose’s insults, she can abide it no longer. “She’s heinous,” Edith complains a bit too enthusiastically to the police, “and she’s what we feared would come after the war.” For their part, the authorities show an alarming lack of curiosity when presented with what seems like an open-and-shut case.
Only Gladys Moss (“We Are Lady Parts” vet Anjana Vasan) suspects otherwise, representing the weaker leg of the central trio. As Sussex’s first “woman police officer,” she’s confronted by sexism and racism every day on the job: Her male colleagues use the word “woman” the way they might “canine,” for example — as though astonished the opposite sex can be of any help in a professional setting — interrupting their locker-room banter to put Gladys in her place whenever possible. It’s an insufferable work dynamic, which Sharrock and screenwriter Jonny Sweet are none too subtle about calling out.
The movie feels very of-the-moment (almost frustratingly so) in its critique of religious hypocrisy and backward gender dynamics, and yet, one longs for a little more nuance in the clownish way these bigots and blowhards are depicted. In truth, the so-called “Littlehampton libels” built to a twist, which a decent contingent of the audience will surely see coming. The English courts of that time might not have taken handwriting analysis seriously, but the evidence is clear as day to our eyes. Plus, the culprit is hiding in plain sight.
Meanwhile, Edith seems to relish all the attention the indignity brings as the case drags on, collecting the newspaper articles written about the shame she’s suffered. (As her mother, Gemma Jones scolds Edith, lest she grow too prideful.) Who knew that enduring such abuse could turn this dowdy old maid into an unlikely local celebrity? Contained in the conflict between these two women is a deeper commentary about the media and how the public relishes a good scandal, rushing to judge with only a fraction of the facts. In Sharrock’s hands, “Wicked Little Letters” is an entertaining account of what feels like a primitive form of today’s online flame wars, where people take sides as commenters openly disparage one another.
Ironically, however hurtful Edith and others found these personal attacks to be, they merely compounded the humiliation by going public with what had been written about them. Good that they did — for our sake, at least — as it’s a hoot to hear Armando Iannucci-caliber insults being lobbed in this conservative 1920s milieu. Amid all that bullying, it is free-spirited Rose who shows what dignity looks like, rising above the slander.
World
FBI Raids Polymarket CEO's Home, Seizing Phone, Electronics
World
Italian mural of Holocaust survivors defaced in act of antisemitism: 'Damages walls but not history'
A mural of Holocaust survivors in Italy has been defaced in a “demented act” of vandalism.
The Milanese mural by artist aleXsandro Palombo features Holocaust survivors Liliana Segre and Sami Modiano, whose faces and Stars of David were scratched out. The Auschwitz-Birkenau survivors were portrayed in striped camp uniforms and bulletproof vests.
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The artwork, unveiled on September 28, aimed to emphasize Holocaust remembrance as antisemitism rises in Europe.
The defacement came just after a pro-Palestinian rally in Milan where some demonstrators targeted Segre, a 94-year-old Italian senator, labeling her a “Zionist agent.” Palombo, outraged by the rhetoric, responded with the mural.
The vandalism has drawn a backlash across Italy. Mario Venezia, head of Italy’s Holocaust memorial museum, called it a “demented act” that “damages walls but not history.” Italian Democratic Party official Piero Fassino also condemned the act, calling it a “cowardly assault on Holocaust memory.”
Palombo’s murals frequently tackle hot-button issues. Last year, he created a mural showing Holocaust victim Anne Frank next to a young Palestinian girl.
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His mural portraying Vlada Patapov, the “girl in red” who survived the Hamas attack during the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, was also defaced almost immediately after being completed.
“The antisemitic fury unleashed by Hamas is overwhelming Jews in every part of the world, this horror that re-emerges from the past must make us all reflect because it undermines freedom, security and the future of us all,” Palombo told EuroNews.
“Terrorism is the very denial of humanity and has nothing to do with resistance, it uses people with aim [the] to divide and drag them into the abyss of its evil, into an infernal vortex that has no end. There can be no peace until terrorism is eradicated; [legitimizing] it means condemning to death the whole humanity,” Palombo added.
Rome’s Shoah Museum condemned the vandalism in a statement, saying “these acts not only harm art but undermine the value of Memory, which is fundamental for building a conscious and just society”.
World
Borrell proposes to suspend EU-Israel political talks over Gaza war
Josep Borrell’s proposal, made in view of alleged human rights violations, is highly likely to be vetoed by member states.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, has proposed to formally suspend political dialogue with Israel over the country’s alleged violations of human rights and international law in the Gaza Strip.
Borrell’s proposal was first raised during a meeting of ambassadors on Wednesday and will be officially submitted next Monday, when foreign affairs ministers meet in Brussels, an EU official and three diplomats with knowledge of the process told Euronews.
The suspension of political dialogue depends on unanimity among member states, and so the plan is almost certain to fail given sharp divisions over the Israel-Hamas war.
The majority of voices who took the floor during the meeting expressed a negative opinion, although not every envoy spoke up, the diplomats told Euronews. Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and Greece were among the taken-aback opposition.
“It came as a complete surprise and was immediately objected by a large group of member states,” one diplomat said. “This came completely out of nowhere.”
But suspension, in and of itself, might not be the real objective of Borrell, whose five-year term is nearing its end. What the foreign policy chief intends, an EU official suggested, is to compel capitals to unambiguously state where they stand on Israel’s controversial conduct.
“It is, first of all, a political signal that something in the relationship is wrong,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “At the same time, it would be a way to force Israel to finally explain and justify its actions.”
Borrell’s proposal is based on the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which contains legally binding provisions on human rights.
Early this year, Spain and Ireland penned a joint letter demanding an “urgent review” of the agreement in light of the spiralling humanitarian catastrophe that Israel’s military campaign has caused in the densely-populated Gaza Strip.
The Spanish-Irish move met with strong resistance from countries including Germany, Czechia, Austria and Hungary, considered among Israel’s staunchest backers in the bloc. The European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, largely ignored it.
Borrell, whose thinking often aligns with Madrid, never forgot the joint demand. The High Representative has tried to convene an Association Council with Israel to discuss compliance with its EU agreement, but this has yet to take place.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, over 1,700 Israelis and more than 43,000 Palestinians, including over 13,000 Palestinian children, have been reported as killed.
Israel has been repeatedly criticised for obstructing the passage of humanitarian aid and the work of UNRWA, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees which the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to ban.
“There’s nowhere safe in Gaza. Including the safe zones,” Scott Anderson, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, told Euronews in a recent interview.
“Unfortunately, all parties to the conflict are not respecting the sanctity of sites that should be safe for civilians, including hospitals and schools.”
This article has been updated with more information.
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