[A film where] one world view, represented by the radiantly pure figure of Konyok, cuddly and all-forgiving (an accomplished performance by Yevgeny Mironov), meets a world view of a different kind.
Irina Kozyol, Roman Korneyev
Courtesy of kinokadr.ru, 2005
[The film is enhanced by] convincing performances – those of the actors
... we already know from [Uchitel's previous,]
The Stroll, plus
... the endlessly talented Yevgeny Mironov.
Aleksandr Ivanov
Courtesy of volgograd.ru, 2005
Yevgeny Mironov delights as a holy fool in the mold of [Tolstoy's] Platon Karatayev, ["the personification of everything Russian, kindly, and rotund"] – a cook by occupation and by conviction, a Soviet rube who loves his mother, his country, his boxing and Irina Pegova's waitress character.
Maria Beyker
Courtesy of ruskino.ru
Quoted translation courtesy of theology.shu.edu
Artless candor shines in the eyes of Yevgeny Mironov, who plays the lead.
Yuri Bogomolov
Ogonyok, 2006
Mironov is intrinsic to the film, as he always is, with a strikingly genuine characterization that conceals rather than reveal – and yet allows us to sense, to discern, to divine –
... the soul of Konyok.
Viktor Raspopin
Courtesy of raspopin.den-za-dnem.ru
The acting elicits puzzled respect:
... the way Yevgeny Mironov, easily
... fifteen years Yevgeny Tzyganov's senior, transforms into an excited kid, cannot be attributed to the wonders of makeup alone.
Gazeta, 2005
If I were a member of the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts, I'd call a special meeting just to award our very own Yevgeny Mironov for his invaluable contribution to the cinema.
... A man capable of
such acting in the scene of his failed attempt to take advantage of his cheating girlfriend
... in the woods, unconditionally deserves an Oscar.
... "Look, look, the satellite!", the girl cries, while her own faithful satellite is hiding the tears in his eyes. It is a masterpiece, as is their preceding
... "burned cutlets" dialogue in the kitchen.
Yekaterina Rusanova
Courtesy of kinopoisk.ru
Konyok as portrayed by Mironov is trust and guilelessness made flesh.
Vladlen Gordienko
Ryazanskiye vedomosti, 2005
The way the old sweetheart Mironov boxes, after only three months of training prior to the shoot, is amazing. In general, he is fantastic here.
... I thought
... he'd be playing
... [the first man in space,] Gagarin. What other Russian actor has such a quintessentially Slavic, appealing face – truly the face of a nation? But no, Mironov is cast as a naïve kid, a sort of human Playdough in awe of a cool stranger. At nearly forty, he manages to play a twentysomething who looks younger than his experienced idol, portrayed by the 23-year-old
... Yevgeny Tzyganov.
Yuri Gladilschikov
Vedomosti, 2005
It's plain to see that Mironov is accustomed to giving it his all on the set, though, alas, his acting alone cannot carry the entire cast.
Maria Kirilova
Courtesy of zvkino.ru
Yevgeny Mironov's brilliant performance makes it instantly obvious that
Escape was just an unfortunate misstep.
Yevgeny Romanov
Courtesy of kinomaniac.ru
[Translated by Vlada Chernomordik for the Yevgeny Mironov Official Website]
