Gay sex scenes have been cut from the Russian version of Elton John biopic, Rocketman, critics who saw a preview said on Friday, as the local distributor said it had made edits for legal reasons.
Russia has a dismal record on LGBT rights and a controversial law bans the promotion of non-traditional sexual relationships to minors, though it is not clear why this would apply to the 18-rated film.
Film critic Anton Dolin wrote on his Facebook page that all the sex or kissing scenes had been cut out, adding that it had been very obvious cuts had been made.
The film, which is set for general release in Russia next week, addresses the British pop icon’s struggles with his sexuality, drugs and alcohol.
Another journalist who attended the screening, Misha Kozyrev, wrote that scenes featuring drugs were also cut from the film.
“Yes, the film has been amended to comply with the laws of the Russian Federation,” distribution company Central Partnership tells the TASS news agency, without providing details.
Russia’s culture minister Vladimir Medinsky told state agency RIA Novosti that his ministry had nothing to do with the edits and that “everything is decided by the distributor.”
“We do not cut anything, I don’t even understand what this is about,” he was quoted as saying.
