浴火鸟

很喜欢，看多了同性题材的电影电视剧之后，其实对于这类型剧已经有一点挑剔了，已经不是主角长得好看加上有床戏就能满足我了，但这部剧完全长在我的审美点上了。角色都很有魅力，节奏把握的很好，给人一种文艺但又不拖沓的感觉，摄影画面很美。

看完之后其实心情有点伤感，虽然作为通讯录早已对于现实生活的偏见、压迫等等问题感到习惯了，但还是会情不自禁为剧中的三位主角感到悲伤。三个人我都能理解，也为他们的悲剧感到伤心，但我不会去埋怨Roman或是Sergey，因为他们只是被大环境推着走的人罢了。如果我是Roman、或是Sergey，我很难说我能做得更好（更符合大众的期望）。当然时代还是稍微变好了一点，我也不是Roman，我不会也不支持骗婚。

最后Roman主动选择前往阿富汗也值得一提。在（当时的）大众眼里男同性恋是变态、是怪异的、女性化的人（这在影片中也有体现），但Roman向死而生的勇敢证明了他是一名真正的勇士，绝对符合社会对于好男人的期望。我想，如果同性恋可以合法地、不受偏见地结婚，他一定会是一名好丈夫。所以我觉得Roman体现了一种态度，那就是我们每个人都不该被轻易贴上刻板的标签，而带着偏见去评价一个人也是绝对错误的一件事情。

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.

1970年的苏联对于同性中的感情是禁止且规定了相关刑法。纵而使两个相爱的人被世俗狠狠地压在了深不见底的黑暗中。 “黑色的玫瑰和荆棘，微笑与泪水，它们种在一起，互相缠绕。” 片头的一句旁白，交待了这份复杂而注定没有结果的感情。 “一个永远不会出现的时刻，犹如一个逃避世界的幽灵……” 谢尔盖得知罗曼的婚礼后，他不知道该如何处理这段感情 ，他最后的挣扎，罗曼的一句她怀孕了，使谢尔盖崩溃……唯一的选择是逃离与忘却“so hard ”这段感情，我努力尝试过忘却它………他们在契索的那段画面，让观众沉迷于其中，谢尔盖的爱胜过了罗曼对他的伤害，两人无忧无虑的样子却始终逃脱不了现实。圣诞节那天，路易莎的到来，使一切烟消云散，谢尔盖独自出门，买了一颗圣诞树。当路易莎到来时，他见证了罗曼的生活：活泼可爱的孩子，相爱的夫妻，一个幸福洋溢的家庭，与自己相比呢？又能算什么。当路易莎问：“谢尔盖，你有没有遇到生命中特别的人？” “罗曼……还有你。”谢尔盖的话亦真亦假，他知道，他们之间的爱是不见天日。最终，谢尔盖选择了逃避，为了罗曼，也为了所有人。“罗曼，我们之间的爱，只能存在于没有时间与思想的地方，你不该再来找我了………” 再次回来时，谢尔盖收到了罗曼离开时的信：“谢尔盖，我没什么可考虑的，我不会再次伤害我爱的人，不会再分裂自己，去属于每个人……” “谢尔盖，说和做，思考和生活，是不同的………”“谢尔盖，我选择了让我自由的地方，是天空，Forget me，我将永远和你在一起。” 画面的接近尾声时，谢尔盖走到了他们曾经游泳的地方，此时，已经一片冰凉……如同他们之间的爱，无论过程多么热烈，结果都会凄凉。仅仅是因为人们眼中的世俗与规矩。“love is love”爱亦是爱，谢尔盖对路易莎说：“我们之间的爱不逊于你的爱”。尾声时，谢尔盖，身处于剧院中心，而舞台上的戏剧，正是当年罗曼带他观赏的第一部戏剧“火鸟” 罗曼站在谢尔盖身旁，慢慢的离去。犹如他从没来过谢尔盖的世界，或是说，这段感情从来没有存在过…… 如开头一样，它是不见天日的…… 如果没有现实生活中老年谢尔盖的叙述《A Tale About Roman》关于罗曼，我们也许永远不会知道这个发生于1970年代两个苏联军人的爱情。爱亦是爱，它胜过了一切，无论是同性还是异性，它们都存在，是不可抹去的。

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

我看完之后有被剧情和画面震撼到，立马去官网看了下幕后导演故事，导演2011年看到了谢尔盖（电影主角原型）写的传记《关于罗曼的记忆》，读完非常喜欢然后决定写电影剧本作为自己的第一部电影作品，几年之后剧本完成，2014遇到了tom（饰演谢尔盖的演员），tom加入了剧本创作，2016年两人去俄罗斯和谢尔盖见面，又了解了大量的细节使剧本更加丰满，2017年演员确定开始排练，2021年在电影节上映。

电影的三角恋让我想起了之前看的《橘衫男子》，同样的军官和士兵，军官和女人结婚生子。

另外浴火鸟的取景摄像和画面调色都太厉害了，画面质感在同性片里面绝对超过了大部分的电影，改编自真实故事让电影里感情更加动容。

不得不说谢尔盖年轻的时候很帅，典型的俄罗斯长相，演员有些神似，不知道罗曼的原型是什么样子，应该和扮演他的演员一样英姿飒爽吧。

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。