That following our hearts and dreams
isn’t foolish or wrong, that we must make
our own changes and choices to make
the world how we would like it to be and
perhaps most importantly that it is never
too late for anyone.
The film is particularly meaningful when
one considers what the world was like
when it was produced, low employment,
poverty and misery ran rampant in
Margret Thatcher’s Britain and the east
and the west of the world were gearing
up for a war that would’ve made the
only recently concluded Falkland and
second world war look like shoving
matches by comparison, as the world
teetered on the brink of an age of
violence and despair that this film that
spoke of hope, love and friendship for
not only our fellow man but our own
selves at a time when it was needed
more than ever before.
Due to my condition I often find it hard to
empathise or relate to people on the less
extreme emotions, for this reason I often
find drama and slice of life pieces to be
confusing or at an extreme frustrating.
Having not watched Letter to Brezhnev
until that night I can clearly and with
confidence say that it simply isn’t so in
this case, the characters motivations
are extremely clear to me and relatable
in that they are driven by that most
basic of human needs; The pursuit of
happiness and love!
The Story begins with a ship coming
into port, carrying Peter (played by
the eponymous Peter Firth) and Sergei
(portrayed by Alfred Molina Who sadly
couldn’t join us on the night). Then
we join Teresa (Margi Clarke) and
Tracy (Tracy Lea) as they enter a local
pub after a brief look at “the chicken
factory” a slaughter house where Elaine
(Alexandra Pigg) works.
It is here that the films focus, the lives of
ordinary unglamorous people, is made
clear, it is then followed up by an exciting
sequence of events that come from the
choice to hop a taxi into town.
It is a film I would recommend to anyone
of almost any age both as an artistic
piece of media to be enjoyed and as a
reminder that we do have choices in life,
even allowing ourselves to be suppressed
or made to feel inferior by another is a
choice that we make for ourselves, be that
by our family (as seen with Elaine’s mother)
or to our very own government.
It is a personal belief of mine that media
in all its forms is the best hope for the
realisation of all mankind sisterhood
and brotherhood; No film I have yet
seen better expresses this than Letter to
Brezhnev, as at a time when people were
being taught to fear people from the east
of Europe, as war loomed like a shadow
over the world
Not bad for a film allegedly made on less
than “the cocaine budget on the making
of Rambo.” Eh?
Jon Armour is a writer and film maker for
ClapperboardUk
Clapperboard volunteer Jon Amour with Director Chris
Bernard and Sophie Holden Clapperboard volunteer
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