Gay Romance Movie "Firebird" (2021)

IMDb page:

I vish I knew how to kvit you.

I saw this. Nothing groundbreaking but the leads are attractive, especially the Ukrainian actor who plays Roman.

I wonder if they would even be able to show a movie like this in a Russian movie theater?

Tom Prior also co-wrote and co-produced the film.

I just saw this and suprised it wasn't talked more here in DL. It's a beautiful film with gorgeous actors and it's based from true events. A must see queer movie, imho.

Is it streaming anywhere? And... is there a Stravinsky connection?

Kiss scene? I judge these movies by them.

There's actually a lot of kissing scenes. The movie is quite erotic.

It is streaming for free on soap2day.

Opens this weekend. I'm going to support it by seeing it on the big screen.

Where at?

Wow, I see it’s going wide, not only the usual art theaters but out in the suburbs too

Absolutely love it. Where can I see it?

Check fandango. In the New York area, it’s playing all over the place

Happy ending?

R16 - on IMdB it’s compared to Brokeback Mountain and Titanic, no I’m giessing that’s a no…? 😬

^GUESSING, god!!

I did know someone who escaped from a gulag and somehow made it to Israel (he was Jewish). Not saying this story ends with one or both in a gulag, but I grew up with Soviet scientists who lived in our house (during glasnost and beyond). Shit was fucking *insane* in that society…

Opens tomorrow nationwide, but not everywhere.

I saw this during LA's Outfest and wanted it to be better than it was. The two male leads were hot though, and I appreciate that they were trying to tell a gay story about a part of the world where gay content is nearly non-existent.

Described as "swooningly romantic"

There are no gays in the Russian Army

The reviews have been very mixed.

Can we hold a screening for Vladimir Putin?

Sure.

As long as he can keep his Parksinson’s from shaking.

I wanted to hear the Estonian language, but it was all kind of oddly performed in English.

Saw this at Frameline festival in SF — think it must’ve been late last year. I thought it was good. Not groundbreaking, but good. Worth seeing. And yes the two leads are verrrry handsome.

I'm going to see it tomorrow. In Pittsburgh!

I asked this earlier, but now some of you have apparently seen it. Is there any Stravinsky connection?

R29, per the review at r21:

When Sergey tells Roman that he has never seen a ballet, Roman arranges for him to visit a rehearsal of Stravinsky’s The Firebird, based on the myth of the magical bird captured and freed by a prince, later returning to rescue the prince from an evil immortal. This film is a bittersweet love story about characters burdened by oppression, but the theme of liberation is as palpable as the sense of loss.

Just saw it. I liked it but didn't love it; the script is the main problem - flat and emotionless, I never got swept away like I want to with historical romances. But the cinematography is wonderful and the production/costume design does a fine job of recreating the Soviet Union in the late 70s, early 80s. The acting is ok, but Oleg Zagorodnii is staggeringly beautiful - he's Ukrainian, so I hope he's safe.

Kissing scene

not a great movie (or even that good), but it's very hot, and Tom is the top, amazingly. His jacked up nipples are a little distracting...

I saw it on Friday at the Malvern theater on Long Island, not very crowded, but I did enjoy it and I hope to see it again. Gotta support gay movies when they randomly appear in the neighborhood.

I think the Ukrainian actor is fighting in Ukraine 💔 From a movie about a war to an actual war, it’s staggering.

Shit. Now that cancerous little butterball is really going to drop the bomb.

Here's Oleg's instagram page; most of his updates are in Ukrainian, but he posted something a few hours ago, so I hope he's doing ok.

Interview with star/writer/producer Tom Prior

Tom Prior has a magnificent chest.

Unfortunately it's hard to take seriously any actor that has to "sell" himself with his body rather than his acting ability. His thirst trap pictures are everywhere. Including at events to publicize the movie.

Maybe that's how it works nowadays.

Oleg is a spectacularly beautiful man. I hope this war ends soon -- in Ukraine's favor -- and his next movie has him naked as much as possible.

Quite big tits.

Looks tiresome.

The movie is a breeze, Not a trudge at all

I watched this months ago online, so I don't see how it was only released this week.

Also, it was shot in 2019. Do LGBT films always take this long to be released?

Most do not get theatrical releases, plus with the Covid all bets are off as to what is normal

I saw this on OnDemand. I really liked it. Thought the actors had chemistry and agree with r46

Bump

Watched it at the weekend and I liked it a lot, I thought the end was very moving.

Tom's body is very distracting - no one would have looked like that in the late 1970s Soviet Bloc. But there are only a few shirtless scenes. He suits the uniform very well.

Actually his body is not as distracting as the awful wig he wears at some points, to show that time has passed.

Nah, I'm good.

How does it end?

Those nipples are outrageous and belong on a woman. I couldn't stand all those sweater scenes

Prior's tits are unreal, I've never seen anything like it. Impossible to look elsewhere when he's shirtless. He seems aware of this fact and comes across as proud of his puppies. Which, good for him, but I'm still wondering what sort of sorcery went into raising them to look like [italic]that.[/italic]

[QUOTE]How does it end?

Beautifully.

So apparently Tom Prior doesn't identify as gay. I guess he doesn't identify as anything.

[quote]Since the film emerged I have been endlessly asked about my personal life in addition to how I identify. But ‘identifying’ a certain way has felt restrictive or the opposite and can come with expectations about one area of my life, or worse, can make one feel ‘other’ or different. My truth today, is that I don’t identify any particular way. It is not in naivety that I say this, as I am grateful and venerate the progression of what identifying has allowed through decades and centuries of struggle. But today is about being authentic; having authentic connections and following the calling of my heart, that is how I will identify. I have always believed that sexuality is all on a spectrum, and now is time in history to allow the lines to blur. I am who I am – always learning, growing and changing and I will fall in love with, who I fall in love with.

r57 Oh dear, how disappointing. Sounds like he's still dreaming of a big break in Hollywood and is keeping his options open. Sad that actors as young as him can't seem to move past that mentality, though I'm sure his management had a big hand in crafting that statement as well.

I thought he'd been in a relationship with a guy for ages.

r57, r58, in a way, it's refreshing that in this age of everyone wanting to label themselves with an identity (or a multiplicity of identities) that he's taking the "I don't believe in labels" approach.

(Even if at the end of the day it just means he's gay.)

I hate the "I don't believe in labels" crap because you never hear it from honest folk, it's always closeted gays/bisexuals or queer-baiting straight people hoping for a big break. It's so transparent, it makes me roll my eyes every time. It's all about keeping their options open in the biz and nothing at all to do with any sincerely held personal belief or worldview.

Also, there's an implication in there that there's something wrong with the gay/bi identity. So you're also taking a dump on everyone who is proudly out.

Love this movie. We just watched it on Amazon Prime Video. Both guys are hot and it's a true story. What's not to love? We need so many more gay (not queer) movies like this.

I liked the movie, too....but it's sad how some people will use any opportunity to swipe at people who identify as "queer"

Stop being a conservative busybody. Let people be who they want to be

R63 It's sad how some people will use any opportunity to swipe at people who identify as gay just because they think it makes them old fashioned and “conservative”.

Stop being a gatekeeping busybody. People can be who they want to be but it’s also fine for gay men to reject everything being labelled “queer” when they are gay.

Drearapolis

I can't see r63 because the gay bashing tranny speak got to be too much.

I just found this and watched it last night. What a lovely sad story. And it's a true story! Damn. Fuck Russia. I thought it was well done.

When I think Gay Romance, I think Bros, not some Russian soldiers.

R68, but it was a story worth telling. The hostility and the criminalizing of being Gay in Russia needs to be shouted from the roof tops. They are brutal ugly pigs once they get power. Every petty bureaucrat is corrupt and spying on everyone else.

I started watching this last evening on Amazon. Oh, lawd! It is very erotic and quite well done, though a little slow moving and the near plane crash was a bit amateurish. The two leads are very handsome. Just the looks they gave each other were very arousing. I think I wore out my rewind button. Very erotic love scenes too.

It looks like it's going to be another tragically ending gay movie.

I find such things incredibly depressing.

R71, one dies, but dies a hero of sorts. It is actually a pro-gay movie. The two male leads are interesting, sensitive, intelligent, productive and complex.

WHET Tom Prior since this movie?