Letter To Brezhnev
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A very good film made for next to nothing, spoiled only by the wooden-ness of the leading lady and the cliched actions of some of the supporting characters.
Piotr and Sergei are just the sort of men who I’d want to whisk me away to a foreign country – Alfred Molina has played Konstantin Levin in Anna Karenina and is a real treat, all the more so when here he plays someone for whom English is a baffling and incomprehensible language, so that his smouldering face exudes innocence, vulnerability and “cheecken!”.
The Liverpudlians portrayed are rather less convincing, and the Foreign Office official downright scarey. The Russian president – not Brezhnev, perhaps an early impression of Gorby? – is an unnecessary comic turn in what is otherwise a kitchen sink drama worthy of the great “Kes”. The film will interest anyone who liked “Billy Elliot”, in fact. While not as comic as that one – and with a few extras we could have done without, particularly Elaine’s silly sister Josie and Tracey, who does not add much to the story – the film holds its own; Margi Clarke as Teresa is a much better actress than her self-conscious co-star.
On such a budget the film isn’t going to be a huge, sweeping period costume panorama or chilling, CGI-laden thriller. What matters is the sensitivity with which it is written – in which both societies come in for criticism, one for holding Elaine back, one for keeping Piotr prisoner – and there is not too much of the anti-Thatcherite polemic that the box threatens, nor an over-blown Cold War anti-Soviet rhetoric.
Worth watching, but only for fans of this kind of movie.
Rating: 4 / 5
I have wanted to write this review for a long time. In fact for over twenty years since I first saw this wonderful film I have wanted to share my views with someone. Now, living in the United States where the film is only available on VHS, I am able to write it.
This is a lovely little love story but despite that I absolutely love it. I used the film in economics and sociology lectures to illustrate a number of different socio-economic and historic processes but throughout this is an unashamed love story.
The backdrop for the movie is the almost unemployed port of Liverpool, once the gateway to the West, and now an almost industrial museum set against the backdrop of the Liver building and Paddy’s wigwam. The time is the early 80’s where the decimation of manufacturing industry through exposure to competitive economic global forces through the policies of the Labour government under Chancellor Healey, followed by the Thatcher government under Chancellor Howe, resulted in mushrooming structural unemployment. As the characters emerge from the soulless housing estates thrown up since the 1960’s such as Skelmersdale where this writer spent a year whilst undergoing teacher training, we see the nasty and brutal existance forced upon young people as the techno pop of the new romantics pulsates in the background in a somewhat escapist mode. Survival is the key but there is more to life than being unemployed or plucking chickens as the inhabitants of my home town Sunderland celebrate in the pubs and clubs on weekends when the paycheck or unemployment payment arrives.
The story of the chance meeting in a bar and love at first sight followed by a night in a quayside hotel is a story played out in many towns and cities throughout the British isles but whereas the relationships established generally lead to a grim perpetuation of the existing circumstances in this case one of our heroes has a dream.
Realising a dream is fraught with problems, especially when the general demeanour of a country is totally opposed to that of another. In this case our Kirby girl falls for a Soviet sailor who happens to be Russian and once his ship departs she discovers the harsh reakity of living in a bureaucratic centralised state, ie Britain. To achieve success she must battle lies and spin, fight the government and the press and become a pawn in a propaganda battle which ends with the victory of the soviet government who enable the reunion of the two lovers behind an iron curtain.
There is much in this movie, the escapism and the fantasy. The brief intimate interludes which punctuate the dreary drudge of life in a factory in soulless towns. The centrality of a family unit in cramped conditions where relationships are fraught and edgy. The dreams and realities of an intelligent young woman with little educational success in an environment of competition for few eligible males which is often vicious. One of the most illuminating scenes is towards the very end of the movie where the hardened friend is wishing Elaine goodbye at the airport and her veneer cracks when she is alone. My only complaint is the seagulls which normally follow the ferry across the Mersey could not look more fake than on this movie.
After spending a year near Merseyside I can say that I found the people there to be the salt of the earth and well represented by this movie. It is a film which comes along only once in a while but which is worth every compliment which can be paid to it. I have no hesitation recommending this to everyone although I feel that in my adopted country they will need subtitles.
Rating: 5 / 5
Forget Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine – this is the best film about Liverpool women in the 80s. It’s my favourite all-time film. There is such a rawness to this film – you really feel as if this was exactly what it was like. It’s key strength is that most of the actors have got ‘proper’ Scouse accents and was filmed entirely in Liverpool.
The writing is top-notch – the scenes at the night club and in Elaine’s house are brilliant. But there’s romance as well – everytime I go to Liverpool I always have to go on the Mersey ferry! The photograhy gets me everytime, especially when the Russian ship comes into port.
I used to be a massive fan of Brookside and it’s great to see some of the actors in. Margi Clarke had a part in it a couple of years previous to the film (she played a friend of Lucy Collins).
Added to all that is a brilliant soundtrack featuring Bronski Beat’s ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’.
I can’t recommend it enough.
Rating: 5 / 5
More devotion than ambition seems to have gone into the making of this little film; that’s quite visible. What sets it apart is that it works.
Don’t expect too much nuance from “A Letter to Brezhnev”. Everything seems to be expressed in stereotypes, and there are no winners; the Soviet Union is definitely the Evil Empire, but, on the other hand, so is England, especially Liverpool, under Thatcherism. There’s nothing to choose between the repressiveness of one and the unemployment and poverty of the other; and, if there was an irritant here, it was the fact that the film was a bit messagey. For example, it would have been suitable for the Foreign Office interviewer to be a bit of a creep – but he was arguably too much of a creep, and one yearned for just a bit of subtlety.
The casting was good. If I had to pick out one member of the cast, it would be Alexandra Pigg as the dream-ridden Elaine, whose life seems to enfold the reverie of any not-very-exceptional working-class girl; Margi Clarke as her mate Teresa was exactly what you’d ask of Margi Clarke, Peter Firth as Elaine’s Russian sailor traded a bit in sentimentality, and Alfred Molina as Teresa’s was just that tiny bit too bearish. Supporting cast was wonderful.
A special note on the soundtrack. Yes, the accents certainly were authentic (I don’t know Liverpool all that well, but the speech was certainly what you’d hear), and what might come across as the coarseness seemed absolutely fitting; it may seem an odd thing to say, but there are times when subtitles in standard English might have helped – notably the opening dialogue between Elaine and Tracey, where the unfamiliarity (at that point) of the Scouse speech conflicted with the traffic noise. At other times, you work your way into it, but I still had the feeling that some of the funniest lines (of which there were many) were opaque to me. The problem was much like that of Barney Platts-Mills’ “Bronco Bullfrog” about a decade earlier – sound recording on the cheap and heavy accents, in that case East London – and the director did well to opt for sub-titles there. They might have worked here too.
The cinematography is pretty good for a low-budget feature, and the setting perfect (as you’d expect – Liverpool playing Liverpool); the battered city still has its beauties, most not missed, all of them recognizable (the Pier Head; Hope Street; the Royal Liver Building). I especially liked the vista of Birkenhead’s skyline as Moscow; in fact, the ferry journey probably contained the best photography of all.
Concluding impression was favourable overall. If the script had been less preachy, and the rest of the leads up to Alexandra Pigg’s standard, this might have been a little classic.
Rating: 4 / 5
A great big slice of 1980’s nostalgia. A simple story with plenty of charm, wit and warmth. It’s strange to look back at the shots of Liverpool as it was only 20 years ago when you see just how much has changed.
I’ve been after this film for years but every time I look on Amazon it was sold out. Delighted at the service and very, very quick delivery.
Rating: 4 / 5