The official ideology and everyday life were two very different things. The former was mainly the domain of the ex cathedra pronouncements of the "nomenklatura" during ceremonial occasions and perhaps evening news, but it did not permeate the everyday life. The latter was pretty much "official ideology" free: people went about their own business, listening to foreign music, watched foreign films, read foreign books - a lot of that was available and translated, with the exception of "trashy" stuff and rabidly anti-communist propaganda.
"Knife in the water" was a little bit ahead of my time, it was released in the early 1960s when I was still blissfully oblivious of existential angst while playing with sling-shots, left over WWII ammo and kindred devices. I was a rather nerdy kid hanging out with a really bad crowd until my senior high school year - so I did not have much opportunities to hear the word 'Polanski" or for that matter "angst." However, when I started hanging out with a pointy headed crowd in my senior high school year and the angst finally got me, me Polanski already became a legend, so everything by him was in.
I think it is important to understand that the life on the other side of the iron curtain was very much different from what the US propaganda machine was trying to convey. Yes, I had to steal toilet paper from the university library because getting it in the store could be a challenge. But having the basic needs met, even if in a very minimalist level, freed many people to other, more intellectual or artistic pursuits and exposed them to many interesting ideas.
Wojtek
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