FIREBIRD Heats Up NYC — Q&A With Star Tom Prior & Director Peeter Rebane

boyculture.com:

Leather zaddy (Images by Matthew Rettenmund) Spent Thursday evening at the NYC premiere screening of Firebird, a Soviet-era gay romantic drama based on the true story of a young soldier's passionate affair with a fighter pilot in an oppressive culture, and an oppressive time in history.

I'd read some critics felt the film to be heavyhanded or a story we've seen before, but I disagree. Fair enough, it is a straightforward forbidden-love story, but as for originality, isn't the point that love is love?

And does a reminder of that need to come with bells and whistles? His head-to-toe look while awaiting going on The performances of Prior as Sergey (who first presented his story in book form, and who died in 2017) and Oleg Zagorodnii (in real life a Ukrainian who was absent from the screening because he is defending his country) as Roman are a pleasing study in contrasts — Zagorodnii oozes movie-star charm, allowing the audience to fall for him as Sergey does, while Prior brings a naturally emo quality that makes him sympathetic, a stand-in for any gay man who's ever come of age.

Poster boys The course of their love is anything but smooth, including the brutish meddling of a sadistic higher-up (Margus Prangel) and the innocent complication presented by their friend Luisa (Diana Pozharskaya), who is tired of waiting for Sergey to notice her and winds up settling for Roman.