FIREBIRD – Review

Set in Cold War-era Estonia, then occupied by the Soviet Union, a two young men, a soldier and a pilot, fall in love, a dangerous relationship forbidden by homophobic law, in the English-language romantic thriller/drama FIREBIRD. Appropriately, this moving film is debuting in St. Louis just as Cinema St. Louis’ QFest, its celebration of gay-themed film, kicks off on Friday, April 29.

Sergey (Tom Prior), Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya) and Volodja (Jake Thomas Henderson) are an inseparable trio, in military service at the Soviet Air Force base in Estonia, and as the film opens, the three friends have sneaked off to swim on the rocky coast. When a Soviet security patrol catches them, Volodja’s family connections keep them out of trouble but the tension of living in 1977 Soviet-occupied Estonia is made clear. Also made clear in the scene, as the three young people play in the sea, is that beautiful Luisa is infatuated Sergey, while Sergey is far more interested in Volodja.

The opening scene leads us to expect this be a romantic triangle but this fact-based story takes a different turn, with the arrival of a new pilot, Lt. Roman Matvejev (Oleg Zagorodnii). Private Sergey Serebrennikov has just informed his kindly commander Major Zverev (Margus Prangel) that he intends to leave the military, to return home to his family farm to support his widowed mother, but Major Zverev gives him a last assignment, as the driver and assistant to the new lieutenant. Sergey quickly discovers they share an interest in photography, theater, and Tchaikovsky, and the pilot encourages Sergey to pursue his deferred dream of attending acting school in Moscow. The pair really bond over a trip to a performance of The Firebird, where Sergey drives the lieutenant over the border and stays to watch the show from a back row while the lieutenant joins friends up front. The ballet is a revelation to the young Sergey, as is a secret embrace and kiss in a forest near the border where they pause when returning. Well aware what they are doing risky but deeply in love, the tension of their situation increases when an anonymous note is sent to the camp’s KGB officer Colonel Kuznetsov (Nicholas Woodeson). The KGB agent becomes determined to catch and expose the pilot and his unknown lover.

Again, this true story veers from our expectations, as it becomes increasingly complex. But it remains a tense, and ultimately heartbreaking and tragic romance as it unfolds. FIREBIRD is led by a fine performance by Tom Prior as Sergey, well supported by the rest of the cast and director Peeter Rebane’s nuanced direction. Prior and Rebane co-produced the film and co-wrote the script from the story by Sergey Fetisov.

FIREBIRD starts out feeling more like a basic gay romance with the added tension of the time period and place, but quickly deepens to something more, exploring other choices in life and the price others might pay for our choices, in addition to its political commentary on the fall-out of homophobic policies on individual lives. Peeter Rebane directs this complicated tale with sensitivity but a firm hand. There is a recurring use of water and swimming, with its symbolism of birth, rebirth, and the natural world, but the water also provides some romantic scenes with bare bodies and an extra frisson of excitement, without being particularly explicit, therefore making them more romantic than erotic. The acting is fine throughout, although the focus is very much on Tom Prior’s Sergey, but Diana Pozharskaya is a standout as well as Oleg Zagorodnii. The toxic influence of secrets runs through this tale.

FIREBIRD opens Friday, April 29, at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, the Chase Park Plaza Cinemas 5, and other theaters nationwide.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars