Handsomely crafted and well produced, ‘Firebird’ aims to be a story of particular interest to LGBTQ+ audiences, but the best parts of it will be of interest to all audiences, and the weak elements won’t be redeemed simply by a Queer Cinema designation.
Based on a true story and set during the Cold War of the late 1970s, the story initially takes place on an Air Force Base in outpost Estonia.
Our main protagonist is Sergey (Tom Prior), a Russian Private who is what we would call “All-American,” lol. He is handsome, smart and polite. Although a certain young lady, an Officer’s secretary (Diana Pozharskaya), has eyes for him, Sergey struggles to feign any sort of mutual interest.
Partially, he is preoccupied with his ambition, a lofty goal to become an actor in Moscow someday, and he just might go for it, seeing as how his enlistment is almost up.
One day he meets a charismatic pilot, a total rock star called Roman (Oleg Zagorodnii) and the electrical current between them is instant and quickly pushed aside, with hardly a word spoken.
Roman may or may not be interest – we don’t know yet, we just know that the fighter pilot already has for sure captured Sergey’s curiosity.
It’s obviously no spoiler to say that the two develop a relationship that is meant to be based on a foundation of true love. And while we can see that this is no seedy hook-up, there are genuine feelings; the film treats this element rather superficially. We needed to see deeper emotions and, frankly, more anguish. After all, being found out could land them five years in prison.
We know those consequences because a mustache-twirling villain, a superior officer who always juuust misses catching them in a kiss, tells them so.
I will not disclose their eventual fate in any specific way – shit happens, locations change, years go by. I will just say that the film, probably by playing things safe, isn’t as impactful as one hopes.
Which you can kind of understand – it is not easy to get any movie made. Will the viewer stay interested in real time? I think so. It’s more of a post-viewing reflection where you wish a few things had been more developed.
I’ll finish by paraphrasing the late Gene Siskel who often said about films based on true stories: is this film as interesting as the same story would be as told in a documentary or a non-fiction book? In this case, I’m afraid the answer is no.
‘Firebird’ is Now in theatres. Get Locations and more info here: https://firebirdmovie.com/
Rated R | 2 ½ out of 4 Stars| Roadside Attractions
