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.

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!

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.

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.