In the comedy Little Dirty Letters, Olivia Colman again shines in a character role. The Oscar winner got her big break thanks to the hit series.
In Littlehampton, a quiet English coastal town, women receive some truly powerful letters. Written by an unknown hand, the pages are filled with obscene language and insults below the belt. Either the intensity of the expression literally knocks the addressee off his feet in a decent Christian town, or another moral defender has to reach for a snuff bottle to avoid passing out.
It sounds unbelievable, but Little Dirty Letters is actually based on a true story. As in the film, it took place shortly after the First World War in the same small town in West Sussex. Then it was a real scandal, the tremors of which shook everything and were heard for a long time even in the most remote corners of England. British director Thea Sharrock (Six Whole Months) has staged the events with a great sense of contemporary and local flavor and sensationally assembled a top-notch cast of British cinema in the film.
Olivia Colman and her Edith Swan are particularly eye-catching. Edith is the linchpin of the action in the comedy, which first airs July 24 at 10:20 p.m. KST. She is Littlehampton’s most honorable citizen, a pillar of the community, God-fearing and impeccable in conduct. The fact that this well-bred, honest lady suffered most from the disgrace in the “dirty little letters” is quite funny. The contrast couldn’t be greater, and as we all know, it’s contrast that makes jokes.
Breakthrough with a hit series
Edith Swan carries the story, her actress carries the film. Olivia Colman impresses again in a role that has a lot of fun and colorful undertones. The British actress also proved she could play darker tones, especially in Yorgos Lanthimos’s depressing and disturbing film biography The Favorite – Intrigue and Madness, in which she, as Queen Anne Stuart (1665-1714), becomes a pawn in the intrigues of the duchess and maid. For her role in this masterpiece, Colman received an Oscar for Best Actress.
Whether starring or supporting characters in biopics (The Iron Lady), comedies (The Battle of the Roses) or dramas (The Father), Colman’s creative range is wide. She also made an impression as Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix series The Crown. But her big break came with an earlier hit series. In Broadchurch she played Ellie Miller, a colleague of DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant). through which they investigate various crimes in a run-down coastal village in southwest England, including the case of an eleven-year-old boy whose death has followed the police for years. Colman also received numerous awards for this, including a BAFTA Award.