Letter to Brezhnev is a 1985 British romantic comedy film about working-class life in Liverpool, 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 depressed and tough city fallen on hard times.
| Letter to Brezhnev | |
|---|---|
 Promotional movie poster for the film | |
| Directed by | Chris Bernard |
| Written by | Frank Clarke |
| Produced by | Stephen Woolley Janet Goddard Catherine Spack |
| Starring | Alexandra Pigg Margi Clarke Alfred Molina Peter Firth Tracy Lea |
| Cinematography | Bruce McGowan |
| Edited by | Lesley Walker |
| Music by | Alan Gill |
| Distributed by | Channel Four Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £50,000[2] or £379,000[3] |
| Box office | £450,000 (UK)[2] |
Plot and themes
editTwo young women from Kirkby, a rough suburb of Liverpool, 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 Liverpool.
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.[4] It also reflects hope and ambition as despite awful odds, the protagonists pursue their dreams.
Cast
edit- Alexandra Pigg – Elaine
- Margi Clarke – Teresa
- Peter Firth – Peter
- Alfred Molina – Sergei
- Tracy Lea – Tracy
- Iggy Navarro – President of Soviet Union
- Ken Campbell – Newspaper reporter
- Angela Clarke – Josie (Elaine's sister)
- Ted Wood – Mick
- Sharon Power – Charlie's Girl
Production
editThe film was shot in three weeks on a small budget with fees deferred to those involved.[5] Scenes were filmed in the State Nightclub, a prominent Liverpool venue in the 1980s.[6] It assisted Liverpool in becoming the second most filmed city in the UK after London.[5] For the soundtrack, Sandie Shaw re-recorded the song "Always Something There to Remind Me", and Bronski Beat's "Hit That Perfect Beat" was also used.
Reception
editLos Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas described Letter to Brezhnev as "a winner, [and] further evidence of the enduring renewal of the British film industry".[7] Walter Goodman of The New York Times wrote: "The zesty script by Frank Clarke is at once shamelessly romantic ('You look to the star and think of me') and unromantically streetwise ('Talk about Russian hands and roamin' fingers')."[8] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times concluded:
Letter to Brezhnev is strong because it is simple. It is not really about romance at all. It is about how idealism can be a way of escaping from the rat race. It is about a young woman with the courage to try something dramatic to break out of the trap she's in. It is also about a brave new tradition in British filmmaking, in which the heroes are ordinary people, seen with love.[9]
Kate Muir, writing for The Times in 2017, said the film "creaks a little with age and its crew of young actors sometimes seems stagey. Yet it has ebullient energy".[4] The reviewer for the BFI's Screenonline website described it as having "done more than perhaps any other film before or since in putting Liverpool on the cinematic map".
The film opened at the top of the UK box office where it remained for two weeks.[10][11]
Letter to Brezhnev holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on six reviews.[12]
References
edit- ^ "The Week Ahead". The Times. 2 November 1985. p. 38.
- ^ a b Borne, Nigel. "Little film little profit." Sunday Times [London, England] 26 Jan. 1986: 31. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
- ^ "Back to the Future: The Fall and Rise of the British Film Industry in the 1980s - An Information Briefing" (PDF). British Film Institute. 2005. p. 25.
- ^ a b Muir, Kate (28 April 2017). "Classic film of the week: Letter to Brezhnev (1985)". The Times. London. p. 7. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 June 2020. (subscription required)
- ^ a b Roberts, Les (2003–14). "Letter to Brezhnev (1985)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ "The rise of The State - a retrospective of the legendary Liverpool nightclub". Getintothis. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
The State's decor has always attracted film crews and every once in a while it is transformed into a set. It was used extensively for the 1985 film Letter to Brezhnev.
- ^ Thomas, Kevin (11 June 1986). "Movie Review: Love Is The Ideology in Brezhnev". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ Goodman, Walter (2 May 1986). "The Screen: Letter to Brezhnev". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (11 July 1986). "Letter To Brezhnev". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 13 June 2020 – via rogerebert.com.
- ^ "Top Films". The Times. Screen International. 22 November 1985. p. 32.
- ^ "Top Films". The Times. Screen International. 29 November 1985. p. 32.
- ^ "Letter to Brezhnev | Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.