The lead went to the absolute best of our ... young talents – Yevgeny Mironov. ... In the hands of a good director Mironov, it turns out, can be a genius.

I had thought that Yevgeny Mironov had the wrong type of face for the Prince. ... But it was proven once again that there are types and then there are Actors ... that can play it all. He doesn't need the sunken cheeks – he has the eyes. The eyes of a man that reflect the minutest, ever-changing turns of a tragic soul, and the eyes of an icon serenely gazing into its own depths, into the depths of God's creation, into eternity. ... And how different he can be from scene to scene! ... My God, the actors we have! The word "star" doesn't begin to describe Mironov. He is beyond all boundaries.

What pleases most is the choice of lead. I cannot doubt that the director gave the role of Prince Myshkin to the best and most suitable actor working today. The work of Yevgeny Mironov astonishes. At some point it begins to feel like the actor exists apart from the rest of the film's creative team, including the director – so piercing is his performance. ... Yevgeny Mironov, breaking away from the rest of the cast, raises the acting bar to near-Bergmanesque heights. ... What I find most amazing about Mironov's work here is not even the acting itself, but how the actor – a "mere mortal" like the rest of us – manages to create onscreen the likeness of Dostoyevsky's "entirely beautiful human being", a pure and sinless soul in the image of the Savior Himself.

The adaptation's very first episode was so powerful, and the acting of Y. Mironov and [others] so stupendous, that the way I felt could only be described by the famous words of [writer] Sasha Sokolov – "a trifle overwhelmed".

The multifaceted, unpredictable Yelizaveta Yepanchin as played by Inna Churikova ... can only be compared to Yevgeny Mironov's Lev Myshkin. The subtlest shades of thought, feeling and mood [that they capture] can be marveled at forever.

Mironov and Mashkov, together and each in his own way, were able to convincingly portray not only Myshkin and Rogozhin but – most importantly – the air of unbearable tension between them, created by their very presence onscreen, by their dissimilarity and their consanguinity.

The actors playing the concept, not the specific psychology [of their characters], such as Y. Mironov as Myshkin ..., are simply outstanding.

Even aside from the glorious portrayal of Prince Myshkin by Yevgeny Mironov, the whole cast did a wonderful job.

The new adaptation of Dostoyevsky's revered novel is carried by two supremely gifted actors – Yevgeny Mironov and Inna Churikova. ... That playing Prince Myshkin has elevated Yevgeny Mironov to world-class stardom is an indisputable fact. ... It is a perfect spiritual match, and more than that – a genuine revelation of the character and what he stood for ... in the mind of Dostoyevsky. It is one thing to illustrate a character, quite another – to live as the man, and to show us that man and his life. Mironov has done that. I am sure that his portrayal will define Prince Myshkin for many, many years to come. ... Yevgeny Mironov's performance in the final episodes is, spiritually and professionally, an act of heroism.

The director has found an actor capable of capturing the luminous wisdom of "the Christ-Prince", his love of people, his concern for the world, his faith in happiness, the gift of his empathy for one and all. Just as the novel is carried by Myshkin, the film is carried by Yevgeny Mironov, who speaks to us – in a simple, heartfelt and convincing way – about "the abstract notions": the death penalty, the relation of Catholicism to Socialism... In these complex, action-slowing monologues he is the same as in the showy confrontation scenes or in the moments of genial chatter, where he lets loose with his marvelous free laughter. ... I will leave it to the professionals to assess the nuances of movement, expression and voice that Churikova and Mironov bestow upon us; what matters to me is that their every gesture and glance, every nod and vocal fluctuation serve to reveal the profound meaning of Dostoyevsky's novel.

The final scene of Bortko's movie is no less a feat than Andrzej Wajda's version – and Wajda's whole film was an adaptation of just that one scene. He had a Japanese Kabuki actor playing Myshkin, but Mironov outacts the man hands down: there's something otherworldly in his face. ... This Myshkin's passion is easy to believe in.

Yevgeny Mironov (Prince Myshkin) is sheer enchantment and wonder: how does one "play" deathly ill eyes? Undoubtedly a star-making turn.

Mironov is brilliant ... there is no hint of pathology in his Prince, only a soft and powerful inner light.

Mironov does the near-impossible, breathing new meaning into timeworn lines, transforming himself with a mere inflection of his voice.

Mironov's acting is excellent and right on the mark. ... Mironov's intelligent, subtle performance leaves room for a variety of character interpretations.

It's a strange feeling when Yevgeny Mironov delivers a ten-minute monologue and you can't stop watching. Your mouth falls open and you forget to shut it.

Looking at Yevgeny Mironov on the screen, you begin to fear for his sanity. He achieved realism in a masochistic way: by losing 25 pounds ("Dostoyevsky describes Myshkin as a slight young man, I didn't think I looked fragile enough") and scaring the passers-by on the streets of St. Petersburg, where he walked for hours on end rehearsing Myshkin's mad gaze. In the end, he achieved such authenticity that even the cattiest critics stopped comparing him to Yuri Yakovlev's "idiot" [1958, dir. Ivan Pyriev]. ... Mironov made himself at home in the 19th century, he dissolved in Myshkin, became one with him. Became him, pure and simple.

The viewers were unanimous that the biggest success of the film is Yevgeny Mironov's portrayal of Prince Myshkin. He has absorbed the difficult text to the point of total integration; he delivers complex monologues as if the words had just come into his head; and, most importantly, one believes that his Prince really does love and feel compassion for people, seeing something in each of them that the others miss.

There was a mystery to the film ..., put there by Dostoyevsky and personified by Mironov far beyond the limits of his own acting talent. That mystery is Mironov-Myshkin's face. For all his unique gift, Mironov has never before been so naked onscreen, ... so stripped of the protective layer, created by scripting technologies and the tricks of the acting trade, which normally exists between the actor and the character. Even in Love, even in Moslem and The Metamorphosis, Mironov was acting. Something different was happening here. ... What went on with Myshkin-Mironov, I have no way of knowing, but it was something ... more frightening than death and more vulnerable than innocence.

The more you look into his eyes, the more you believe in the character. ... A better Myshkin ... could not be imagined today. His Myshkin makes everyone around fall in love with him – not just the other characters but, it appears, the film's cast and crew and – most importantly – the viewers. Mironov has created a stunningly convincing portrait of Myshkin.

To say that Yevgeny Mironov's portrayal of Myshkin is fantastic is not saying enough, and the word "genius" is devalued, being used and abused at every turn these days. ... So I will simply say that from the first moment on Mironov does exactly the thing that is imperative for the image to come alive. ... The profundity of his performance is breathtaking. His technique, no less so. His gaze is unbelievably expressive, conveying that which words cannot. Every pause is dead-on. ... Mironov ... is the most convincing Myshkin I have ever had the luck to see. He possesses all the qualities of the Myshkins [that came before] – and tops them by taking on all of the world's pain. And this is not a given that he enters with: it takes place before the viewer's eyes. No Christ-Prince to begin with, his Prince slowly reaches the heights of Christ. ... They say that the ideal exists only in our imagination, ... [but] Yevgeny Mironov ... refutes that old truth.

Word of the new TV adaptation of The Idiot ... was met with some apprehension. But all worries were laid to rest with the very first episode: all it took was the appearance of Yevgeny Mironov as Prince Myshkin. ... Mironov plays Myshkin impeccably. But there are moments when his performance reaches peaks where all praise falls short, where a brief scene or even a single line seem to encompass the entire character. ... There is no question that with this performance, Yevgeny Mironov has become Russia's national treasure.

The undreamed-of miracle happened almost instantly. Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin appeared on the screen. Yes, there could be no doubt – it was HE. It was his face, fine-featured, gaunt and pale; his gentle but intent gaze; his soft voice, his surprising readiness to strike up a conversation with anyone at all, his incredible ability not to take offense when offended. And ... it was all too clear how much this Myshkin deserved Aglaya's ... farsighted words ...: "There is no one, no one here worth your little finger, not one of them has heart or head to compare with yours! You are more honest than all, better, nobler, kinder, wiser than all!"

Yevgeny Mironov ... gave flawless human form to Prince Myshkin – humanity's troubled conscience, the paraphrase of the archetypal 19th-century Jesus as written by a classic with an injured soul.

Yevgeny Mironov ... does not play Myshkin – he exists as Myshkin, exists according to the laws of his unknowable nature. It feels as though, in a higher but very real sense, he has touched your life and left his indelible mark upon it. This Myshkin you don't grow to accept; this Myshkin you recognize instantly and take into your heart forever.

Did I say "played"? It's the wrong word. I was just speaking with Prince Myshkin. ... He became Myshkin and can't come out of character, as if still trying to find the answer to the main question of the Russian life: what is the destiny of a man who values not power and fame but justice and truth?

This role – so difficult, but so meaningful – was a dazzling success for Yevgeny Mironov. Long reluctant to take it, he finally agreed, and was able – so very able – to convey to the viewer the full scope of the character, all of its great significance.

With all the power of his genius, [Dostoyevsky] created [a Prince] whom no honest heart could fail to love, and Mironov was able to incarnate such a Prince.

It's strange, at first I rejected Mironov's Prince, and now I can't believe there was a time when he did not exist. ... I am sincerely happy for the magnificent Russian actor Yevgeny Mironov.

The greatest treasure of the film is, of course, Yevgeny Mironov – Prince Myshkin. ... Mironov was the first to discover in Myshkin not the water element, but that of the sun. ... It is quite possible that this role will remain his best.

An unquestioned success is the work of Yevgeny Mironov, who has proved once again that his name will likely head the list of Russia's great actors of the new century. His natural charm, his precise, sincere and moving acting manner, have eclipsed all the previous images of Prince Myshkin on film, and it is probable that this famous character will be associated with Mironov for a long time to come, at least in his homeland. ... Now he can be rightfully called a People's Artist.

Yevgeny Mironov, a Merited Artist of the Russian Federation, is known to native audiences from a variety of films; but by the end of this series, even the unfamiliar viewer comes to realize that here is a truly brilliant actor worthy of a great author, and that The Idiot was worth watching just to see Mironov in it.

What establishes the film as a milestone, a triumph, a historic event, is the presence of Yevgeny Mironov. His role is central not merely to the plot; he is the emotional, the intellectual and, in essence, the artistic nerve of the entire project. Describing his eyes, his gestures, his inflections is pointless: they must be seen and heard. And it is all one can do to marvel at the range of his talent when one considers that in the Moscow Art Theater's megahit №13 he has them literally rolling in the aisles.
The miniseries' greatest success is, of course, Yevgeny Mironov. His name is listed separately in the credits, the director and other cast members refer to him exclusively as "a genius" and "a brilliant actor", and, true to these titles, he carries every scene he's in, if not the whole film.

If there were nothing and no one in this miniseries except Mironov as Myshkin, it would still have been worth filming. ... His work is transcendent. ... In embodying a being who exists Here and There at the same time, he is peerless.

After Prince Myshkin, Mironov can only be called a genius, however pompous that may sound.

I will say nothing of Mironov. His triumph is greater than any words I could find.


[Translated by Vlada Chernomordik for the Yevgeny Mironov Official Website]