Firebird

I’m not sure when I first heard about the movie Firebird, but it was sometime last year around the time it was first released. I’ll be honest, what I noticed first was the two main actors, Tom Prior (left) as Sergey and Oleg Zagorodnii (right) as Roman. Both men are incredibly handsome. Prior co-wrote and produced the film. So, yes, the first thing I noticed about the film was how attractive the two main stars are, then I read what the movie was about.

Synopsis: Sergey is a troubled young private, counting the days till his military service in the Soviet Air Force ends. His life is turned upside down when Roman, a daring fighter pilot, arrives at the base. Driven by curiosity, Sergey and Roman navigate the precarious line between love and friendship as a dangerous love triangle forms between them and Luisa, the secretary to the base commander. Sergey is forced to face his past as Roman's career is endangered and Luisa struggles to keep her family together. As the walls close in, they risk their freedom and their lives in the face of an escalating KGB investigation and the fear of the all-seeing Soviet regime.

I have been desperately wanting to see it since then.

Firebird had its world premiere at the 35th BFI Flare: London LGBTIQ+ Film Festival on  March 17, 2021. The film also screened at the 45th Frameline: San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival on June 27, 2021, where it won an honorable mention for Best First Feature. I have been waiting for it to get a wider release and expected that I’d have to wait until it was released on one of the streaming services. Then, I saw last week that the film was to be released in cinemas internationally on April 29, 2022. I went to the website to see if it was playing anywhere near me. I’m in Vermont, so I believed the likelihood was slim to none. But, lo and behold, it opened last Friday at the Roxy Theater in Burlington. I already had plans last weekend for Saturday night (seeing Matteo Lane) and was not keen on driving back to Burlington on Sunday.

The schedule for the theater only ran through today, so a friend of mine who was also interested in seeing it once I told her about it, called yesterday to see if it would still be playing this weekend. Tonight’s 7:00 pm showing will be its last showing in Burlington. So even though I have to work tomorrow and would not normally go to Burlington during the week, we are going tonight to see it. I am not about to miss my opportunity to see this film. I’ll let you know tomorrow what I thought of it. I hope it lives up to its hype.