Firebird

Brilliant artwork and meticulous costume bring alive an era in Soviet history which was shaded by the brutal laws of the regime. In defiance of all the dangers, Sergey and Ramon consummate their love for each other. The intimate scenes are carefully choreographed. An overall beautiful piece. Would advise the makers to add closed captions to the movie as the Russian accent is sometimes hard to understand.

Firebird (2021) was co-written and directed by Peeter Rebane. This isn't a review of Stravinsky's Firebird. It a movie set in Estonia in 1977, when that country was part of the Soviet Union.

I don't know why the movie has an Estonian director, a star from the UK (Tom Prior), from Ukraine (Oleg Zagorodnii) and from Russia (Diana Pozharskaya). Everyone speaks in English. Director Rebane is bilingual, but what about Zagorodnii and Pozharskaya? They may be bilingual as well. Usually, you'll notice dubbing, but I didn't detect it in this case.

Prior plays Sergey, a young conscript who wants to become an actor when his conscription ends. Zagorodnii is Roman, a tough fighter pilot. ("The Firebird.") Pozharskaya plays Luisa, who works as the colonel's secretary. (She wears a uniform, but I can't tell if she's actually in the air force.)

I called this a very unusual love triangle, because both men are attracted to each other, and Luisa is attracted to them both. The plot moves forward from there.

We saw this film virtually from the great ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival. It has an excellent IMDb rating of 7.7. I agreed, and rated it 8.

P. S. The Firebird ballet does enter the movie. The men go to see a performance of the ballet in Moscow.

Imagine, if you will, a tense time where if the Air Force discovered one was in a same sex relationship, it was grounds to be locked away in prison for five years. This came from Estonia must be a big deal for Eastern European countries, which are still super conservative when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. But why was this shot in English then?

I'm an Eastern European queer born in Socialist times, so the story isn't exactly new to me. Almost all of us have usually far grimmer tales to tell, like asking a guy for a light in Opera Park and suddenly finding oneself in a basement pressed for names of fellow queers by a phone book slammed on the fingers. So I'm a bit put off by how tame this all is, a little bit of menace amidst extremely careless behavior - we were way more ingenious back then.

But it's wonderfully photographed for sure and Prior and Zagorodny are insanely hot - their love scenes look like they were choreographed by Matthew Bourne. To top it off, Zagorodny bears a remarkable resemblance to Tom Cruise, which is definitely not coincidental. So this is the film for all the gays fantasizing after watching Top Gun - prior to this one the gayest air force movie ever, even though they hid the subtext well. And it's perhaps an elegant jab at an actor who does action movies at 60 but still hasn't had his Jodie Foster moment.

This is a lovestory you need to see! The forbitten story of two souls so deeply in love just makes you stop and hope, that nobody can never catch them in act. The storyline just makes you stop a heartbeat and fall into their challenges and dreams.

Actors were really well chosen and ofcourse good to watch due do absolutely stunning appearances. The audenticity of Soviet Era was well played with all the machinery, buildings, outfits and hairstyles. Costume makers have brilliantly served the styles of this strict and conservative era.

And ofcourse bonus points for such a important message to share with the world!

Loved it!