In Firebird, all the actors speak English with an Eastern Bloc accent. That makes every scene feel equally fake ★★☆☆☆

A first exchange of views, and you know enough. That young soldier (Tom Prior) and that new pilot (Oleg Zagorodnii), stationed in an Estonian Soviet air base in 1977, are going to have a tough time together. The Estonian-British drama firebirdwritten by director Peeter Rebane and its English protagonist Prior, depicts a true love story that has been described elsewhere as a pilot’s variation on Brokeback Mountain. Rebane approaches the material quite chastely: it doesn’t get more explicit than the eager phallic symbolism (see the orgasm suggested by flying fighter jets). That fits with the secrecy of the romance and also with the unashamedly old-fashioned tone of the film. Unfortunately, things go very wrong, thanks to the syrupy script and the language: all the actors, whether they play Russian or Estonian characters, speak English with an Eastern Bloc accent. As a result, every scene feels equally artificial and fake. Too bad, because Zagorodnii and especially Prior are doing what they can to bring things to life.