Firebird

This is the first film from Estonia I watched. Films are always a nice way to experience the countries, cultures and stories otherwise I wouldn't have tried.

It's a sleek and smooth film. Good production value, nice scenes, adequate actors... But it feels a bit too conventional, bit cliche, bit too predictable. The military base forever under a cold blue cast, rain in the emergency landing scene, the blacksea beach forever bleached under warm summer tone, the last theatre scene that looks like a cover photo of a fashion magazine with too much glamour filter... Music of Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky to heighten the emotions... And lines from Shakespeare, of course.

There's nothing wrong for a film to be conventional. It's a business after all, and however wonderful a story, it has to sell first for it to be heard by the public. But I wished at times, that the production rather have cut some of those cliches, and really, I mean really went down to the depth of the emotions of the characters. Then the tragic love story would have been much more heartfelt and real.

Definitely well made and worth a watch... but not a masterpiece.

PS. I must question the choice of English language for the film. Yes, I see it's a UK-Estonian joint venture, yes, I see the main actor is English, and yes it may sell easier internationally... But having actors speaking in 'funny accent' is certainly one aspect that takes away the sense of reality from the the drama, especially because in most English speaking countries, foreign accent invariably invokes a negative connotation. I would have rather liked it in full Estonian or English with no particular accent.

An outstanding experience in cinema. Firebird is a piece of history from USSR Cold War worth its stunning images in gold!. This movie is so filled with passion and filled with amazing performances you can't help but to watch in aw. Highly recommended! I saw this at Outfest and I must say of all the films I saw, this one was truly my personal favorite and the best picture I saw. When it is out, do not hesitate to seek it out!

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?

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.

Obvious, it is a beautiful film. For landscapes, good intentions around a real case as manifesto, for the moral conflicts, shadow of fear and the good remind of Stravinski creation. But it remains one ad usum Delphini film. Sure, the memories about Brokeback Mountain and sparkles of Doctor Zhivago are useful but as a sort of support. I just love the work of Tom Prior and Oleg Zagorodnii , I appreciate, in high measure, the performance of Diana Pozharskaya but something seems ignored or missed or to easy used. The cause, maybe, the film is proposed to a Western public. And I admitt, I do not know the book inspiring the movie. But, not ignoring its beauty, I feel it deserves be better. More than beautiful, soft bitter, adapted to a large public taste, using silly dialogues because it is just hard to accept the naivety of the two men and the way to escape to the eye of officials. But, I reppeate, it is just a beautiful film. Not perfect, because, behind the sparks of gestures, intense sad love story, part of army and crumbs of Soviet life style, are too many holes and large unrealism. It seems too...didactic. Naif, fake. Sure, my expectations about it were more than high. But the result is only decent for few mistakes who are good saboters of a charming story remaining promissing sketch. Sure, handsome actors and not bad script. But , maybe as result to be an Eastern European, the feeling about something is missing remains. So, decent, with few scenes just lovely.