The story takes place in Czechoslovakia in 1987. The father has defected to England and the mother and her son are planning to leave the country to reunite with him. The film is told through the eyes of the fourteen year old boy, his rankled look without the veneer of experience and initiation in one day. His mother moves about in an intensified daily routine, mapping it out hour by hour. He catches up with her on that path but she must act alone in order to achieve their reunion—Anonymous
Eighty Letters is autobiographically based. The source of the film are the memories of the director and the surviving correspondence between his parents. The story takes place in Czechoslovakia in 1987. The father has defected to England and the mother and her son are planning to leave the country to be reunited with him. Husband, wife, child even at a distance they are still together, but the forced break-up of any family is an abnormal situation. The events of the film are viewed from the boy's perspective, the exasperated gaze of one lacking experience, his initiation in the course of this single day - the film. It is the day when the youth gets a glimpse of adulthood and overcomes fear. His mothers movements are part of an intensified daily routine, as she maps it out hour by hour. It is a battlefield situation for her. She is on her way, her son catches up with her on that path, but she must act alone if they are to achieve completeness together.
