Henrik Andersson
A Conversation
2009
This is a transcript from the conversations between Nobel Peace Prize holder Mikhail Gorbachev and US president and former movie actor Ronald Reagan. The meeting took place in Reykjavik 1986 and is known for marking the beginning of the end of the cold war.
[Gorbachev] We are for parity in general. In the information field, for example, or in film. Almost half of the movies showing in our theatres are American. Soviet movies are hardly ever shown in the United States. That is not parity.
[Reagan] We do not have any ban on your movies. The film industry is a free business, and if someone wants to show your films he can do it.
[Gorbachev] I see that the President avoids this question and goes into talk about business.
[Reagan] Our government cannot control the film market. If you want to inundate us with your movies, go right ahead. How our movies get to your country, I do not know.
[Gorbachev] It is an interesting situation, simply a paradox. In your country, the most democratic country, obstacles arise to showing our movies, while in our country, a totalitarian country, almost half the movies being shown are American. How can you reconcile this, that the Soviet Union is an undemocratic country but your films are being shown?
[Reagan] There is a difference between free enterprise and government ownership. You have no free enterprise, everything belongs to the government and the government puts everything on the market. In the United States we have private industry, and other countries have the right to sell their goods, movies, and so on. You have the right to set up a rental organization in our country to distribute your movies, or to lease some theatre. But we cannot order it.
[Gorbachev] One more question. There were two television bridges between the USSR and the United States recently. One involved the participation of the communities of Leningrad, Copenhagen, and Boston, and the other had Soviet and American doctors. In our country they were watched by 150 million people, but in the United States they were not shown.
[Reagan] The only thing I can answer is that the movie theatres and all belong to your government, and you show what you want to in them. But our government cannot compete with private business. But I want to tell you that your performing groups, such as the Leningrad Ballet, draw an enormous crowd in the United States, and they are shown on television too. But if you want to show other things too, please do. We have leasing companies, and theatres which show foreign films.
[Gorbachev] Mr. President, we have quite a few complaints about the United States. Here is the last question. For 30 years now you have refused to let our trade union figures enter the United States. Mr. Shultz simply does not give them visas. Where is the parity here? You know, your trade union figures come to the USSR and have interesting professional contacts and meetings with workers. But you do not let our people in. In your country, which is so self-confident, they are viewed as subversive elements.
[Reagan] I would like to look into this. Maybe I will have some proposals on the film problem that you mentioned.
[Gorbachev] Good.
