Letter to Breshnev
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Letter to Breshnev |
| Original title | A letter to Brezhnev |
| Country of production | Great Britain |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1985 |
| length | 95 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK from 16; f |
| Rod | |
| Director | Chris Bernard |
| script | Frank Clarke |
| production | Janet Goddardv |
| music | Alan Gill |
| camera | Bruce McGowan |
| cut | Lesley Walker |
| occupation | |
| |
Letter to Breshnev (also known as Letter to Brezhnev , Nice Kisses from Liverpool ) is a 1985 British comedy film about a young girl's love for a Soviet sailor during the Cold War. The screenplay was written by Frank Clarke and directed by Chris Bernard. The main roles are played by Alexandra Pigg, Margi Clarke, Alfred Molina, Peter Firth and Tracy Marshak-Nash (credited as Tracy Lea). The romantic comedy also casts a ruthless look at the dire situation of the working class in Liverpool in the 1980s during Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's tenure .
action
Teresa and Elaine, two young women from Kirkby (Merseyside), a desolate suburb of Liverpool, want to enjoy themselves in Liverpool's nightlife to escape their monotonous work in a chicken factory or unemployment and their parents' home. In a pint, two older businessmen, Dmitri and Rayner, try to tow the girls away. Teresa steals his bulging wallet from Dmitri. After their turbulent escape from the men, they visit the nightclub "The State". There they get to know the Russian sailors Sergei and Peter and make friends with them. At the end of the night, they rent a hotel room from the money the two women stole at the beginning of the night. While Teresa has sex with Sergei, Elaine spends a romantic night with Peter. When the two sailors have to travel back home, the two women stay behind.
Elaine writes love letters to Peter without receiving a reply. She suspects that the mail may be intercepted by the authorities in the Soviet Union. Your attempts at contact via the British embassy are also unsuccessful. Teresa finally suggests that she write a letter directly to Leonid Brezhnev , chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and head of state of the USSR .
To her surprise, Elaine receives airline tickets and a visa in response to her letter. Her parents want to dissuade her from her trip. Even a British government representative who explains the disadvantages of the trip and possible expatriation cannot convince her. At the end of the conversation, he even presents Elaine with a photo of Peter that supposedly shows him with his wife.
Elaine is desperate and at a loss at first, but then decides to travel to get a picture of herself and to find her love. The film ends with Elaine's flight to Russia.
production
- Soundtrack
- Sandie Shaw : Always Something There To Remind Me
- Bronski Beat : Hit That Perfect Beat
- Locations
- Shaftesbury Hotel, Liverpool, England, UK; Kirkby, Merseyside, England, UK; Birkenhead, Merseyside, England, UK (skyline used as freeze frame for Moscow skyline); Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK
- Cinema premiere in Germany
- October 9, 1986
- Video premiere Germany
- February 16, 1987
- budget
- £ 50,000
- revenue
- £ 450,000 (UK)
Tracy Marshak-Nash is listed as Tracy Lea in the credits.
Alfred Molina, who was subscribed to rogue roles at the beginning of his career (e.g. "Raiders of the Lost Ark") made it with the role of the Russian sailor Sergei in the film "Letter to Breshnev" and the role as Leslie Halliwell in Stephen Frear's " The Stormy Life of Joe Orton (Prick Up Your Ears) "international breakthrough.
criticism
"Modern fairy tale about the power of dreams and love, which can overcome all barriers, in the guise of a largely peppy, milieu-specific comedy."
"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.
"" Letter to Brezhnev "is strong because it is easy. It's not really about romance at all. It's about how idealism can be a way to escape the rat race. It's about a young woman who has the courage to try something dramatic to break out of the trap in which she finds herself. It's also about a beautiful new tradition in British filmmaking where the heroes are ordinary people who are viewed with love. "
“Clive Bernard stages, apparently unencumbered by cinematic claims and without fear of contact with trivial stylistic devices, a naive world in which good and bad, wrong and right can be clearly separated: the virtuous Elaine and the sinful Teresa, the idealistic Pyotr and his animal colleague Sergei , the terrible Liverpool and the auspicious, mysterious east. Perhaps it is this simple dramaturgy that led to the surprising success of the low-budget production. "Letter to Brezhnev", a film that offers the viewer the same opportunities as Elaine saw for herself: "I had a dream ... I fell for it, and that's what it's all about in the end, isn't it? "“
Awards
Alexandra Pigg was nominated for Best Actress at the 1986 British Academy Film Awards for her role as Elaine. In addition, Margi Clarke and Alexandra Pigg received the Evening Standard British Film Award for the film in the category “ Most Promising Young Talent ”.
literature
- Film criticism Letter to Breshnev In: film-dienst 19/1986
- Rober Ebert: Letter To Brezhnev In: Roger Ebert July 11, 1986
Web links
- Letter to Brezhnev in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Letter to Breshnev in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- ↑ kinopolis: biography of Alfred Molina
- ↑ Letter to Brezhnev. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 21, 2020 .
- ↑ Roger Ebert July 11, 1986
- ↑ Bernhard Thür kjk 40-4 / 1989