'Supernova' Intimate Scene Censored By Russian Film Distributor

Russian film distributors censored an intimate scene between Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci in the movie Supernova. According to a report in The Moscow Times, unnamed sources who have viewed the edited version of the 2020 film about a gay couple coming to terms with one partner's early onset dementia, said at least one scene was removed from the Russian version. The Russian distributor World Pictures reportedly made the cuts out of fear of country's new anti-LGBTQ+ laws that make it illegal to promote homosexuality to children.

"At least one scene where the characters try to have sex after a dramatic dialogue has disappeared from the story," the Moscow Times quoted sources, adding that "several viewers of the stripped-down version confirmed that it's clear from the context even after self-censorship that the characters are a couple." (Editor's note: Having viewed the film, the scene is little more than the pair making out.)

Supernova stars Tucci and Firth as partners of 20 years traversing England in an old RV. Tucci's character is suffering from early-onset dementia and the film focuses on how they try to come to terms with both the diagnosis and the changes it will bring to the lives and relationship.

Due to the subject matter portrayed in the film, it is unsurprising, then, that it would run afoul of Russian censors. Russian President Vladimir Putin won reelection to a third term in office in last July, and immediately made good on campaign promises to crack down on the LGBTQ+ community through a series of legislation and amendments that banned marriage equality, adoption by transgender persons, and recognition of same-sex unions registered abroad. School teachers in St. Petersburg were instructed to comb through the social media profiles of their students and report the appearance of any LGBTQ+ symbols to the country's internal police, claiming the children's posts might violate the country's propaganda and anti-LGBTQ+ laws as well as a UN convention protecting the rights of children. One Russian ice cream brand was accused of promoting "gay propaganda" and "homosexual behavior among minors" with its Rainbow ice cream.

Film critic Konstantine Kropotkin posted to Telegram that distributors "are forbidden even to use the word 'gay' in relation to the film." He urged viewers to avoid going to a theater to see the censored version of the movie, but instead find a way to watch an uncensored version.

"Don't spoil your experience," Kropotkin advised.

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