(Reviewed by John Glennie)
A love story fraught with danger! Private Sergey Serebrennikov (Tom Prior) is stationed at a Russian air force base, but his real passion is to get into acting. Having informed his commanding officers of his intention to leave, he is given menial tasks for his last few weeks. Secretly, he is in love with Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya) who is the Colonel’s private secretary.
When pilot Lieutenant Roman Matvejev (Oleg Zagorodnii) turns up at the barracks, Sergey is given the task of being his driver. Sergey reveals his passion for theatre, so Roman surprises him with tickets to a dramatic ballet. On the way back to the barracks, they stop off for a rest in a forest – and that’s when the passions ignite!
The movie, a true story, is set in the Cold War period when Russia is on heightened alert for potential attacks from the West. When Roman is brought before Major Zverev, a nasty piece of work who seems to have it in for the Lieutenant, and Colonel Kuznetsov he is presented with an anonymous letter accusing him of sexial conduct with an unnamed Private. The penalty would be minimum 5 years prison and total loss of career.
Despite his love for Luisa, Sergey tries to convince Roman to move to Moscow with him when he starts at acting school. Roman declines, and not too many months laterm Luisa visits Sergey and announces she is getting married – to Roman! There are some tense scenes at the wedding, with Roman and Sergey almost getting caught kissing by the ever-suspicious and vigilant Major. Before returning to the wedding celebration, Roman announces that Luisa is pregnant!
Some years later, with his acting career blossoming, Sergey gets a surprise visit from Roman who tells him he has been transferred to Moscow for a few months, leaving Luisa and their son behind. The relationship takes off and everything is looking good for the Not long after, lovers until they are caught in embrace by Sergey’s former training partner. Luisa decides to move to Moscow with her husband, putting extra strain on the relationship.
Firebird is quite a powerful film, and highlights the problems that have faced homosexual couples for many years – and still valid in some countries.
Must admit, it did feel a little strange to be reviewing a movie about Russian military given what is happening in that region at present! However, it is an excellent film and is definitely worth seeing.
Firebird is now screening at Palace Nova Eastend
No Comments