Indeed. We could not get access to all western literature, movies, music etc. For example Jan Fleming books or Bond movies were banned. I couldn’t get Fleming books even in one of the biggest Moscow library. Not that it was worth it as I see now but at that time it was kind of unfair. To know that there was something we couldn’t get hold of. Most of the western media was also out of reach. I speak of the period of up to the early 80-s. I used to roam a second hand bookstore. There I could get some up to date English language books. And there was no religious literature in the book shops. No bibles. As to the movies we also had a choice of pictures someone made for us. Of course it was a good choice, but all the same it would be better to let us decide which pictures were good and which not. And there was some censorship in the movies we were allowed to see. No ..., no nudes, no Bond like anti-Soviet themes. As to Tarkovsky yes, he was popular, and we liked Solaris and Stalker. Some even watched his other works but they were for intellectuals not for everyone’s taste.
