Letter to Brezhnev (1985)

Letter to Brezhnev is a 1985 British romantic comedy film about working class life in contemporary Liverpool. It was written by Frank Clarke and directed by Chris Bernard. It starred Alexandra Pigg, Margi Clarke, Alfred Molina, Peter Firth, and Tracy Marshak-Nash (credited as Tracy Lea). Letter To Brezhnev presents Margaret Thatcher's high-unemployment Liverpool as a dangerous and near hopeless city.

Two Liverpool young women, Teresa and Elaine, meet two Russian sailors, Sergei and Peter, and hook up for a night of fun and frolics. Teresa is looking for sex and a smile, Elaine wants love, romance and the dream of a life far away from the grime of the Liverpool docklands.

Amongst other themes, it reflects the constraints on working class women's dreams. It also shows that many people do not get the chance to aspire to anything other than the humdrum lives they find before them as they walk away from school. Some of the characters worked in what they called "the chicken factory", a slaughterhouse.

For the soundtrack for the movie Sandie Shaw re-recorded the song "Always Something There to Remind Me". Also on the soundtrack was the Bronski Beat song "Hit That Perfect Beat" which was a hit in Australia and the UK.

Synopsis

Teresa et Elaine habitent a Kirby, petite agglomeration a quelques kilometres de Liverpool. Teresa travaille dans une fabrique de poulets, Elaine ne travaille pas. Apres avoir fauche le porte-monnaie d'un malabar elles partent a Liverpool. Elles rencontrent dans un bar deux marins russes. Pour Elaine c'est l'amour et elle decide de rejoindre Peter en Russie. Tout le monde s'oppose a son depart alors elle ecrit a Brejnev qui lui envoie un billet d'avion. Un film dans la veine de "My Beautiful Laundrette" qui sont la preuve d'une "nouvelle vague" britannique.

Actors