Letter to Brezhnev

The opening scene in "Letter to Brezhnev" shows Soviet sailors Sergei (Alfred Molina) and Peter (Peter Firth) sighting Liverpool and recognizing it as the Beatles' hometown. When this happens, you know that you'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).

But, since this is the Cold War, the Russian guys obviously can't stay in England very long, and so they quickly have to return home. But Elaine can'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 isn't too popular with the British authorities, who decide to question Elaine about it.

This 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. I'm eager to see how he does in "The Da Vinci Code".