It doesn’t help that some of the acting in “Firebird” is very stilted and awkward, which makes a lot of the movie very emotionally unconvincing. It’s a story about someone taking advantage of two vulnerable people who deserved a better love partner. Viewers with common sense can easily see that the love triangle depicted in “Firebird” is not true love. Regardless of the sexualities of the characters in the drama “Firebird,” this monotonous film glorifies a relationship as romantic, when it’s really a doomed love affair where one person in the relationship is very selfish and manipulative. Tom Prior and Oleg Zagorodnii in “Firebird” (Photo by Herrki-Erich Merila/Roadside Attractions/The Factory) This one should not be missed.Diana Pozharskaya, drama, Estonia, Firebird, Jake Henderson, LGBTQ, Margus Prangel, Markus Luik, movies, Nicholas Woodeson, Oleg Zagorodnii, Peeter Rebane, reviews, Russia, Tom Priorīy Carla Hay Tom Prior and Oleg Zagorodnii in “Firebird” (Photo by Herrki-Erich Merila/Roadside Attractions/The Factory)Ĭulture Representation: Taking place primarily in Estonia and Russia, from 1977 to 1983, the dramatic film “Firebird” (which is inspired by a true story) features an all-white cast of characters representing the working-class and middle-class.Ĭulture Clash: Two men, who begin a secret love affair while they are in the Estonian military together, continue their love affair even after one of the men marries a woman and has a child with her.Ĭulture Audience: “Firebird” will appeal primarily to people interested in stories about closeted gay people, but the movie is frequently dull and has questionable acting.
Well, the cast would have been infinitely more attractive, no?įirebird delivers everything you want in a traditional movie, and nothing you don’t want. Instead, this story is perhaps what Brokeback Mountain should have been, or what we all would have wanted to see. If you were to describe this film to a friend, you might suggest it is a Russian Brokeback Mountain mixed with a Top Gun theme, but that would not quite do it justice. The audience is always ‘right there’ with Sergey, and intense suspenseful moments are in a way a participation with the audience, especially as Prior captured and perfectly portrayed the new and inexperienced nature of a young Sergey experiencing his first passionate romance. The blending of colours and tones form an integral part of the story telling, reinforcing the Soviet Era backdrop but also enhancing the mood. The struggle is real and the love is inescapable, desperate and regrettable. In what is ultimately an expected tragedy, is nothing short of a realistic journey through life, where those aforementioned fortunate ones have also experienced. Always trying to be everything to everyone, fulfil his duties and attempting to have it all, namely to be with the one that he truly loves. Oleg Zagorodnii embodies the eternal struggle, the passionate love for one, with the soul crushing weight of the consequences of his decisions and expectations of others. Simply, true, unabated love for another person, the kind that only the lucky among us have ever felt. The portrayal has the audience feeling like Sergey simply cannot breathe without his Roman, that Sergey cannot reconcile his life, his decisions and his other wordly priorities without Roman in his life. Overwhelmingly Tom Prior’s performance is outstanding and real. Upon reflection of these and similar elements, such a romance would be even more difficult and just as dangerous in 2022, and in truth, would perhaps not have eventuated at all.
In contrast to today, the homosexuality would not be questioned, but the relationship itself would be considered inappropriate and be invalidated due to the power imbalance of Roman being Sergey’s superior officer. Only the singular issue of homosexuality being criminally outlawed and unacceptable to the party, yet seemingly the people had their own opinions about the morality and some would silently question their governments position. It is interesting to consider that in many respects, in the days of Soviet Union, there is no sensationalism, no inflated ideological ego or heightened threats to personal identity or natural existence that exists today.