浴火鸟

Firebird is an epic Queer love story set in a tense Soviet Union. This unconventional film followed the romance of Sergey, played by Tom Prior, and Roman, played by Ukrainian hunk, Oleg Lobykin.

Set in the 1970's Cold War, Firebird is an incredibly stylish film. The visuals feel authentic and true to its setting. But surprisingly, there are bouts of action, adding more thrill to a story that is already anxiety inducing.

Another twist is that the film explores a love triangle between Roman, Sergey, and Roman's partner, Luisa- played by Diana Pozharskaya.

This part of the world has always been incredibly hostile to LGBT+ people. It is common to see an attempt to erase Queer people from the histories and identities of post-Soviet countries. From the 'LGBT free zones' in Poland; the Gay Propaganda Laws in Russia - to the toxic political discourse in Hungary - 'Firebird' is a symbol of Queer existence throughout history. It is a statement that Queer love is not a modern and Western construct, but it is imbedded in the fabric of humanity. And this piece of history- beautifully shown in the film- is a shining example that the #TheNewEastisQueer, and it always has been.

In this interview, the writer/lead actor, Tom Prior and director/writer Peeter Rebane talk about the true story of 'Firebird', its making, and what it was like to meet the real Sergey.

EAST: Where did you first meet each other?

TOM: I was doing some work in Los Angeles, and a film financier that I was meeting- by coincidence- mentioned that she heard about the story of Firebird- which was under a different name at the time- and promised to introduce me to Peeter. Then we basically connected and I read the script, and fell in love with it instantly. It was when the draft of the screenplay was at a very early stage, and that’s really where it began.

EAST: Peeter, when did you first discover the story?

PEETER: That was over 10 years ago. A friend of mine- who founded the ‘Black Nights Film Festival’ in Tallinn- she received the original story from a Russian journalist showing it around at the Berlinale, and she knew that I was looking for material for my first film. So I read it over a weekend at home, I literally cried and decided that I have to turn this into a film and then started writing for the first time ever.

EAST: ’The New East is Queer’ is a campaign to debunk the myth that Queer people don’t exist in Eastern Europe and Post-Soviet States. Yet here is a queer love story set in Soviet Russia. Were you conscious of this when deciding to make the movie? Did you feel a sense of duty to tell the story?

PEETER: Foremost, I was taken a back by the universal love story. I was also fascinated and really surprised when I read the original manuscript that such a relationship could have actually existed in the Soviet airforce. Then we went on to interview people who served in the Soviet military in the 1970’s and found out that many such relationships existed, and we were also fortunate enough to interview Sergey in Moscow. But at the same time I do feel also that it is important to share this story in light of the real horrors that are going on in Russia and especially in Chechnya today. It is important to remind people about the importance of love and how such relationships have existed throughout the ages.

TOM: For me its really important to share these messages. But we were very true when we said we made this film- not for political reasons- but for about love, love wins. Sergey’s character in the film is really about following his heart. There are terrible atrocities happening, but being able to make movies like this, we are effectively being that very change that we want to see in the world.

EAST: How was Roman cast?

PEETER: That was a really long process. We set a very clear intention to find the most authentic actors that are believable to the true story. So we did a world wide casting, and got 2,500 submissions for the role of Roman. For months we were casting in Europe and the UK, to Moscow. One day in Moscow, Oleg walked in the room and everyone was like: “That’s our Roman”.

EAST: How was it working with Oleg?

TOM: It was a really fascinating process as Peeter said. We just knew from the minute he walked in the room that it was right, this kind of presence. When you talk about casting in a film, you really are casting a person as you are a performer. He had this real presence and he was the nearest person that we felt was Roman, and so, our journey began. Because he is not a native speaker, at all, in fact he had a very small amount of English when we began the project. It has its challenges, and in some ways it actually helped, to a degree, because it meant that we couldn’t communicate as freely as we would, say in a modern day context in English- which serves the story in an amazing way. Because at the time there was no language around the subject matter. Today we are in a very liberal society where we can begin to scale that in a very easy and transparent way, but at the time there wasn’t that. So it bought a really interesting dynamic to the film. Working with Oleg was a real pleasure but it of course it had its challenges as well: cultural background differences, and things like that. But it was a really beautiful working relationship.

EAST: Tom, you were a writer as well as an actor in ‘Firebird’. How did this come about?

TOM: When Peeter and I met- and fell in love with the story- at that time we didn’t have the financing in place to make the film. So we made a teaser for the film, and the scenes that we selected for the teaser. I made some suggestions about how we might improve the script a bit, and the lines and the nature of the lines. I have a real sensitivity to being able to produce texts or language of how people actually speak- as oppose to how people one would think people speak- this is something I am quite sensitive to. So I made these few suggestions on how we might improve the script and that ended up several pages of notes and ended up as several weeks of work, which ended up being overall significant rewrites and redrafts and restructures- and doing lots and lots more research. Then by that point, the script was completely a different animal to what I first came to. So we took the strong elements of that and then imbedded in a lot more research.

EAST: Thats an interesting point. After stalking your Instagram its quite clear that you are a spiritual person and quite centred. Did these qualities help you in your writing or acting?

TOM: Most definitely. For me this project has been quite extraordinary, in the sense of the level of depth that I have been able to get to. Writing the content, for sure, is a whole other level as a performer. Then also meeting the real Sergey, we interviewed him in Moscow, we also very tragically went to his funeral. He passed away in the time that we were developing the story, and it was a very surreal moment for me, to be at the funeral of a person whose life you have extended in the literary form, and who you will play in real life. So there were very strong moments during the time filming that there was this awareness that Sergey was with us, or certainly the energy. For me, having a real level of emergence within the project meant that the emotion came easily, or the stream of conscienceless, lets say. It was very profound and beautiful for the opportunity to do that as a performer.

EAST: And when you met Sergey Fetisov, what were your impressions of him, and did these impressions influence the way you played or wrote about him?

TOM: Very much so. It was an honour to meet him, and he was so very full of heart. He was a very heart-led man. You could tell that he had such a sunny persona, and despite having had a lot of trials and tribulations in love, he was bold and happy. So I bought that level of following your heart, and that bounciness to the performance- where I could - without making it seem to out of context at the same time.

EAST: And for you Peeter, how was it meeting Sergey Fetisov, and did this impact the way you directed the film?

PEETER: As Tom said, he was an amazingly warm and heartfelt person, considering what he had gone through in his life, and how these experiences had made him loving and not hating. I think he definitely informed how we developed the character, and it was an amazing treasure trove speaking to him about actual details, like: what were their favourite pieces of music; what were their favourite foods; which music they would play to each other; which books would they read; which theatre plays they went to see. It all kind of built a world, and helped us to be very authentic in directing and staging the film.

EAST: Peeter, being from Estonia, was there anything about your heritage and personal identity that you bought to the project?

PEETER: Definitely, when I was a very young boy I still recall the Soviet occupation, and our summer house was actually the airforce base where this story takes place. I have this distinct memory of my friend being on this bicycle and these two MiG’s (Mikoyan-Gurevich) flying overhead at maybe 150 feet, and us literally falling off the bicycles because the noise was so deafening. So I have a very strong personal connection, besides having grown up with this feeling of shame about ones sexuality, having to hide your true identity, and the surrounding environment lacking understanding and being ignorant. So, a lot of parallels for me.

EAST: How much history is in the story?

PEETER: I think its, well I don’t dare to say 100%, but I think its 99% historically correct. The events happening, the small details of the airforce base, the setting, we really made our upmost to make a film that looks and feels like the 1970’s could have looked and felt like.

EAST: And there seems to be a big military presence in the film.

PEETER: From the directing perspective, we had amazing consultants. We had a retired airforce base, a retired Soviet airforce base commander, flight pilot, a person who worked in the command centre, who directed all the flights. We had a lot of people who literally went through the script, went through the dialogues, who were on the set with us, telling us to do it like this, or do it this way. We put trust in not making a Hollywood version of what someone envisages, but in thorough research.

TOM: The intricacy of the details is very particular, I mean, even when it comes to the radio announcements, and things like that, and the calling in’s to the planes and the lights from the command centre and everything- its all very accurate. We did the best research to our knowledge, to make sure that it was as real as possible, and the same really with the job titles, the job roles. The military consultants in particular were very useful and an intrinsic part of the training for the performance: the way we would walk; the hand salutes; all this military realism that actually happened, and making sure that the attention to detail- our costume department were really great around that also. So, the military aspects of the film, even this accident, there was an accident sequence within the film as well, which was in the original story, and I was absolutely adamant we had to put it into the film, to give it this military flare, instead of having it simply as a backdrop, but actually as an action sequence, this was really paramount and important to me, to ground it into the real world.

EAST: Any personal highlights from onset?

Peeter: I think for me one of the most amazing shots was the last shot of the film. Without giving away too much, it lasts about 1.5 minutes, and the camera is going into Sergey, and technically it was huge challenge for our team to pull it off, but also performance wise, for Tom to act out all the different emotions, truthfully, being surrounded by 50 or 60 extras, and knowing that we can’t cut, and that this is all real time, one very long take.

TOM: Its a very unforgiving shot, lets put it that way. I’m very proud of that moment, and what came through. It was one of those moments that I was speaking out earlier, where there was this profound connection. I started experiencing some very curious things, emotionally. It was like being show the end of ones life, but I was experiencing it in the real time, which was quite curious. For me, the highlight and more significant highlights of the film was really my personal growth. That to me is a huge success. As a measure of success, it challenged me emotionally, physically, spiritually, and now its a sort of standing point, as a physical manifestation of what one can achieve when there are so many odds against you and challenges and time limiting factors, and all those kind of things. So yeah, we can have a whole other discussion of that for the highlights. But we were so blessed, to have such a wonderful committed and loyal team who were willing to go way above standard hours, the commitment was astounding.

EAST: Peeter, did you learn anything about yourself personally or professionally during this project?

PEETER: Absolutely, first of all it was my first full length feature. I have done documentaries, but that’s a whole different game. Learning all the nuances of directing on the set of the feature, and actually doing a pretty challenging script. We shot in the air, under the water, in the baltic sea, staged Hamlet in theatre, staged the full production of Firebird, including costumes and choreography, dancers and sets- a lot of very specific scenes. It was very challenging and I had a lot of personal growth during this process, over the last couple of years.

TOM: I think for me also, as I mentioned, the physical challenges, the stamina, keeping up your health, mental clarity and sharpness through longer days, and resilience through that. Some days there would be, 5, 6, 7, 8 costume changes, multiple different set environments, we would have to change them very quickly as well. I would be sitting on the train, where we would shoot the train sequences, and moving from one emotional state to another, within minutes, and the whole world of the character has changed and gone upside down in that time. So, to be able to tune in to that energy, that emotional change very quickly, was really amazing. And to also play a lead in a film, there is this overwhelming pressure that you can put on yourself, and to scale that, was for me, a real joy and a real challenge, at times. To stay centred, to stay focussed, and to know what we have got to do and what we are there to do, and yeah, this was a really beautiful example of change and growth, and long hours, knowing that you can do it, and you have got to get through it.

EAST: How relevant do you think the story is for todays audience?

Tom: For me, the story is very relevant in terms of following your heart. We live in a world which is probably more divided than ever, with regards to health, with regards to beliefs and perceptions. It is a standing point for following your heart. Actually, if you choose to walk that path, its not necessarily going to be the easiest route, but its probably somewhat the most rewarding- in terms of being able to feel and develop as a person. The film is about following ones heart and ones desires against all the odds, and against the laws of the country and the environment in which somebody grows up in. I hope this is a standing point of inspiration to follow your heart, to love daringly, that would be my wish and hope for its relevance today.

EAST: Do you have any plans to show this to Eastern audiences?

Peeter: Absolutely, we will distribute the film across the world. We trust we will be at some festivals in the summer, also Autumn, late October- and end of the year we will have a wider distribution across the region. So, I guess we will see how the world is as we open, and depending on how much we will be in cinemas. But definitely, we will be on all major platforms across Europe.

'Firebird' premiered at the 2021 BFI Flare Festival on 17th March 2021 and is available to stream on the BFI Player until 28th March 2021.

不知剧情的改编程度占比多少 看完觉得些许狗血但总归是有情绪波动的 两人前期的每一次独处都让人担心受怕 中尉渣了点但按照背景却又是能够理解的无可奈何 貌似女主对两个男主的情感演绎不够完整 到头来只剩了个惨 但一些细节表明她其实早感觉有问题 所以对于一、四年后的字幕跳过式发展不太接受 不往深层想的话是没有表现女主的无辜反觉着急结婚生娃式特别突然又刻意的 因而后面的二人世界再甜蜜 更像一场梦 还很难让观众真正开心起来 士兵的塑造是最合理的 是做自己 是有勇气的爱 因为时代的黑暗 他的爱 他们的爱 只能存在没有时间没有思想的地方 观后感只有难受、心疼、遗憾 看到Sergey 新年夜只能在本属于他们的公寓角落悄悄落泪心都化了 真实故事的改编也许应是这样 现实往往不像剧本 大多都是这样的过程与结局 真实的Sergey在2017可能一个人离开了人世 带着忘不了的爱 带着因时代产生的遗憾……

喜欢firebird这部电影。好可惜据说放映前泄露片段，这部电影一点也不卖座，但是演员颜值演技和剧情让人难以忘怀，还是根据真事改编的。 这个片两个人在一起的时候虽然充满了禁忌危险但心动指数💯，前面多甜后面分开就有多让人心碎💔虐死了。不敢看第二遍，第一次看就哭了2次真的是😭 🐦二等兵Private Surgey在离开枯燥的服役基地前遇到了前来支援的飞行员中尉 Comrade Roman，Roman发现Surgey也懂拍照就大方送了胶卷给他，之后就有了在冲印暗房里的暧昧洗照片，哈哈我也是服了，一开始主动的是Roman，后来屈于事业世俗的也是他（但是I totally understand him）在树林里Roman主动亲了大为震惊的Surgey,但Surgey很快就回应了他，我暗恋的人也喜欢我[抱一抱]然后天降小雨，他们一起笑的样子太美好了 🐦Roman找到看不下去他和Lucia坐在一起看大电影，独自去教室排练戏剧的Surgey,关灯后要亲他，这个情节好会，虽然见不得光在黑暗中也要吻你。被车灯照亮后马上分开Let's go游进大海里才能掩人耳目在一起，这牵动我心的情节🥰 🐦我发誓这是我活到现在最痛恨KGB的一次，我想把那个恶心的中尉碎尸万段，虽然他的上级也知道相恋，可能因为惜才没有说破，但是这个中尉还出现在片尾彩蛋里，我真希望有一个第二集是讲他把Roman关了起来，假死。这世上有什么是资本做不到的呢？ 🐦Roman的第一次退缩，被匿名信吓到了拒Surgey百米之外，在飞行任务中不得不紧急迫降，是Surgey和另一名机械师把阻力网好不容易装好让他顺利滑行。这里是我最喜欢的镜头，就是Surgey被命令回去后还是来找坐在驾驶舱里心有余悸劫后余生的Roman，Roman亲吻了Surgey的手应该是感谢他救了自己，之后Surgey抓住Roman的衣领亲他，差点失去才知道自己已经那么爱他。就这段没有一句台词但是眼神和动作把他们的感情推上一个高度。之后就不用说了，露的相对多的一段(其实也不多)，但还是有个Surgey抱着Roman头，心疼担心写在脸上，能感受到他们饱满的情绪。 🐦Roman再次被警告两个人在房间里还差点被发现，我真的不想回忆这段紧张气愤，恶心的KGB还打断了即将发生的亲亲！直接把Roman吓得对Surgey提了分手。还娶了女秘书掩人耳目，但是Roman到底是为了自己还是像他说的在protect Surgey呢?应该是两者皆有。 🐦婚礼进行中两人还在后台讲话也是big胆了。每次Surgey看不下去Roman和女生在一起跑出来后，Roman总是会跟出来，说明Roman一直在关注他呀。Roman傻傻地问what're u doing这里应该是被牵起了手，然后Surgey要亲他他也没有躲掉，一定是听到Surgey说couldn't forget you被爱情冲昏了头忘了自己在和谁结婚了😮 🐦后面两人好不容易出来租房一周的甜蜜假期也是抓马，一一被朋友和妻子发现恋情，最后还被征召上战场，这苦命的鸳鸯。。可以理解为Roman得知Surgey不会介入他的婚姻要离开他，而Luisa知道了密恋，Roman终于不想再背负这个秘密毅然把生命献给天空也算是一种解脱。在当时可能也没有更好的选择了。Roman带Surgey看芭蕾剧，鼓励他追求演员的梦想，把自己儿子名字取成Surgey的小名，我相信他是很爱Surgey的即使他结婚生子隐瞒世人，所以这份爱已经深到他愿意用死亡来抹掉失去爱情的悲伤😭 🐦Roman信里的话让人肝肠寸断，I shall always think of you,Surgey.No matter what life may bring,I will always be there with you.但怎么with啊？灵魂吗？ 🐦戏剧始终是戏剧，虽然电影让人悲伤，他们演的太好了，亲密戏超级自然，演出了心动和爱恋，各自的形象也很贴角色。但这两个演员戏外的追求是两个截然不同的世界。算是帮助我走出来不要这么入戏🤧

首先我是一个退役军人，有感而发，希望看完🤲 不知道大家有没有感觉这一类的电影看完给人的感受都基于、延伸于《call me by your name》。我上学期大学里一个语文老师说为什么现代作家总喜欢写耽美文，就是因为男孩子和男孩子的爱情无论放在这个爱站队的当下社会，还是从前都是百般受挫的，结局基本上都是不美好的，这样的文字，比起甜甜的撒狗粮更能触动人心弦，所以导演估计也是为了冲掉观看电影后的受虐感，在电影中很多地方还是安排了一些令人会心一笑的桥段，这一点我觉得很好，因为电影确实很需要不同的情绪来提高受众群体的观影感，毕竟是这是电影，并不是像电视剧那样可以一件小事讲一集的。其次，这是一个很长的真实的爱情故事，电影本身就已在尽善尽美的把故事的完整性和细节二者融汇贯通。 再说说角色的演技，个人看来三位主角演技都是在线的，有一些说人角色演技很直男，没有共情感，我觉得这是抛开环境去评论演员，首先我们要知道，时间是上世纪70年代，地点是苏联又是在部队，但凡把这三个要素随便换一个更自在一点的不那么压抑的，我都觉得主角就不会有被人说没有演技了。不知道大家有没有观察过很多细节，电影中频繁的来演习，上校说不准男主讲那种笑话等等很多，这说明什么？我以亲身经历告诉你，这是准备要dz了，这是一种很压抑环境，要去dz了！兄弟，更何况他们是上下级关系，一个是高高在上的军官，一个是默默无闻的义务兵，期间的鸿沟，很难一时逾越，没有去部队的人也许真的很难感受这种等级制度极度森严的上下级关系，所以才会对他们的情感产生疑问，综上所述，演员所演的关系真的是恰到好处。 还有一些涉及伦理问题的，我不好评论，但是我觉得还是要去看他们当时所处的环境和人物的真实性格。

总之这部电影给我的感觉就是 捡到宝了

没什么野心的爱情片，踏踏实实讲了个一开始就注定是悲剧的故事。想起《新白发魔女传》下一条短评说，爱要面目全非才好看。每次看到这句我都会想，“好看”与否是站在看客立场给出的评价，我们轻飘飘的摇头或赞赏指向的，是戏中人的一生。“好看”很重要吗？有时候我宁愿有情人都得到最俗气最安定的幸福。 死里逃生后惊魂未定的拥抱，同榻而眠时认真勾勒的未来，向主流生活投降后在暗房里偷偷凝视挚爱的影像，下一秒传来妻子的呼唤，于是打开房门，任胶卷在强光下失效。 ——是的，妻子。在文艺作品里，我倾向于把社会问题还原到具体的人身上，在这里我不想探讨群体、不想剖析结构，我只看到了三个痛苦的人。爱里没有无辜者，但路易莎显然是最不应该承受悲剧的人。男人都有处可逃，逃向戏剧，逃向蓝天，他们有一整个“外面”可以躲避自我，路易莎没有， 她是罗曼的妻子、是谢廖沙的母亲，唯独不能是医科大学的学生。她放弃了一切，把自己献给建立在谎言上的家庭。 愿某地方，不需将爱杀害；愿某日子，不需痛苦忍耐。

根据真实故事改编，还原真实是最大的尊重，在那样的背景、环境和身份下，电影所演绎的很真实了，所以不能说它老套。

片中经常出现的男孩潜泳场景，应该就是后面 Sergey 向 Roman 讲述的关于好友 Dima 的事：Dima 被发现，惨遭其父的毒打和辱骂，但是 Sergey 当时选择了 run away，并最终失去了 Dima，Dima 的死亡成了他内心永久的阴影与伤痛。他害怕失去。

第一次床第之欢后，Roman 送予了 Sergey 战机模型并说：“For you. So you won’t forget me.”，到后面 Roman 事故离世，Sergey 探访 Luisa 母子并留下战机模型（给 Roman 儿子），即使情物已不在，但爱在心上，怎么可能会忘记啊。就像最后 Roman 信中说的：“I shall always think of you, Sergey. I will always be there with you.”。

片中有一幕 Sergey 和同学交流，“How does true love behave?” “You can’t stop thinking about the other person. You have to be with them no matter what.”，多年后即使已婚的 Roman 还是会想法设法去见他， 表面拒绝但终究内心还是无法抗拒 Sergey，两人在火车车厢的相视一笑，这才是所谓的双向奔赴吧。

在这种背景、环境和身份下，Roman 的做法似乎情有可原，是能被理解的，他必须作出牺牲，他无法做出选择，正如他说的：“I have to choose the only place where I still feel free. The sky.”，天空是他唯一的自由。

有颜有肉，取景美，摄影也美，真实的禁忌之恋。