Brief an Breshnew (1985)

Brief an Breshnew: Directed by Chris Bernard. With Alfred Molina, Peter Firth, Tracy Marshak-Nash, Alexandra Pigg. Two Soviet sailors, Peter and Sergei, go ashore in Liverpool to spend one night on the town. Peter can speak a minimal amount of English but it’s enough to make contact with two Liverpudlian natives, Elaine and Theresa. Elaine and Peter immediately fall in love with each other, but the night is short and they must leave with the ship. Elaine can’t forget him and writes a letter to Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, asking him to make it possible for them to reunite.

“The opening scene in u0026quot;Letter to Brezhnevu0026quot; shows Soviet sailors Sergei (Alfred Molina) and Peter (Peter Firth) sighting Liverpool and recognizing it as the Beatlesu0026#39; hometown. When this happens, you know that youu0026#39;re in for something neat, and your assumptions get confirmed with what happens in Liverpool. Sergei and Peter have a brief fling with working-class Liverpudlian women Elaine (Alexandra Pigg) and Teresa (Margi Clarke).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut, since this is the Cold War, the Russian guys obviously canu0026#39;t stay in England very long, and so they quickly have to return home. But Elaine canu0026#39;t forget them, and goes so far as to write Leonid Brezhnev a letter asking if she can come to the USSR to meet them. Needless to say, this isnu0026#39;t too popular with the British authorities, who decide to question Elaine about it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a most interesting look not only at working-class England, but also at the human aspects of the Cold War. Everyone in the movie does a very good job, especially Molina. Iu0026#39;m eager to see how he does in u0026quot;The Da Vinci Codeu0026quot;.”