Musician Elton John and the creative team behind the Rocketman movie and have accused the Russian film distributors of censorship.
“We reject in the strongest terms possible the decision to censor Rocketman for the Russian market, a move we were unaware of until today,” according to a statement posted on John’s Twitter.
“That the local distributor has found it necessary to edit out certain scenes, denying the audience the opportunity to see the film as it was intended is a sad reflection of the divided world we still live in and how it can still be so cruelly unaccepting of the love between two people,” the statement said.
Rocketman, a story how British pianist Reginald Dwight became cult-followed pop singer Elton John, premiered at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.
A gay sex scene was edited out of the Russian version of the film, although the same-sex romantic plot line was preserved. The scenes involving the use of drugs and alcohol, addiction to which Elton John had overcame under treatment, were shortened. The final caption that the musician found the love of his life and is successfully married with children was also removed from the closing credits in Russia.
Nevertheless, the film was still rated 18+.
The edited version premiered in Moscow.
Moscow’s Pioneer Cinema, in turn, voiced its readiness to screen the original version of the film, if it obtains a distribution permit.
The press service for the Russian Culture Ministry told Interfax that the ministry did not recommend the distributor to cut any scenes and noted that it was solely the film distributor’s decision.
Olga Lyubimova, the director of the Russian Culture Ministry’s cinematography department, described the film distributor’s decision to cut the scenes from Rocketman as “self-censorship.”
“It’s self-censorship, so to speak and evaluate this situation, as, unfortunately, I haven’t seen the film in Cannes and cannot compare. They brought us the release, which we permitted. The distributor was the one to request the rating 18+ and we did not object, indeed, a number of scenes comply with this category, and the distribution permit was issued on time. Frankly speaking, I’ve only learned about the existing problem from social networks,” Lyubimova told journalist on May 31.
This situation must be settled between the copyright holder and the film distributor, she said.
Rocketman was directed by filmmaker Dexter Fletcher. His previous work is Bohemian Rhapsody, a biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. The film was shown in Russia in full but censored in China.
Rocketman is to be released in Russia on June 6.
