Letter to Brezhnev

Chris Bernard's 1985 British film follows two young women in Liverpool. Teresa works in a chicken factory and Elaine is unemployed; one night they meet two sailors off a Soviet ship in the docks, and an unexpected bond forms between Elaine and Peter. The political weight sits in that coincidence. A woman who cannot find work in eighties Liverpool considering the Soviet Union as an escape is an indirect but hard comment on the Britain of the period. Elaine's letter to Brezhnev comes out of it. It was made on a very low budget with local performers. Margi Clarke and Alexandra Pigg lead and Alfred Molina plays one of the sailors. The dialogue does not soften the local speech at all. Who it's for: those who like eighties British independent cinema and working-class narratives. Who it's not for: viewers expecting high production values; the film is technically rough and its texture is close to documentary.