Captain Volkonogov Escaped

In the USSR during the Great Terror, Captain Fyodor Volkonogov serves in the Soviet law enforcement agency. He is trusted by his superiors and his colleagues respect him. He witnesses the suicide of his immediate superior, Major Gvozdev, who throws himself out of his own office window under the threat of imminent arrest. Under the pretext of a call for evaluation, arrests begin of employees of the department headed by Gvozdev. The Captain escapes arrest. A messenger from the world above appears to the Captain, who is told he is destined for hell unless he can find a victim of one of his crimes who forgives him.

• Yura Borisov as Captain Volkonogov
• Timofey Tribuntsev as Major Golovnya
• Aleksandr Yatsenko as Major Gvozdyov
• Nikita Kukushkin as Veretennikov
• Vladimir Epifantsev as Colonel Zhikharev
• Anastasiya Ukolova as Raisa
• Natalya Kudriashova as Elizarova
• Dmitry Podnozov as Professor Elizarov
• Viktoriya Tolstoganova as the widow Steiner
• Yury Kuznetsov as Ignatiy Alekseyevich
• Igor Savochkin as Uncle Misha
• Maxim Stoyanov as the worker Lependyin

This film was Igor Savochkin's final role before his death.

The film received support from the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Kinoprime Foundation for the Development of Contemporary Cinematography, the European Fund for Supporting Co-production and Distribution of Cinematographic and Audiovisual Works Eurimages, the Estonian Ministry of Culture and the Estonian Film Foundation.

Production was carried out by the film companies Place of Power and Look-Film (Russia), Homeless Bob Production (Estonia), KinoVista (France). The producers were Valery Fedorovich, Yevgeny Nikishov, Aleksandr Plotnikov, co-producers Catherine Kissa, Charles-Evrard Chekhov and Nadezhda Zayonchkovskaya.

The film's soundtrack features the Soviet Russian song Polyushko-pole, which can be heard in several instances throughout the film.{{cite web |title=Бег по девятому кругу |url=https://besofculture.ru/volkonogov |website=besofculture.ru |language=ru |access-date=25 January 2025}} It is performed and danced to by a choir of NKVD members and sung by the character Veretennikov as he is tortured.

The film featured anachronistic, non-period clothing, including modern sports tracksuits.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/captain-volkogonov-escaped-review-kapitain-volkogonov-bezhal-1235059760/|work=Variety|title=‘Captain Volkogonov Escaped’ Review: A Street-Pounding Soviet-Era Chase Thriller With Existential Aspirations}}

The first screening of the film took place on September 8, 2021 at the 78th Venice Film Festival.

The film received the Audience Choice Award at the 32nd Kinotavr Open Film Festival (2021), the work entered the main competition and won in the Best Screenplay nomination.

The film won the bronze medal in the main competition at the El Gouna Festival, Egypt, and also won the Best Feature Film award at the XXX Philadelphia International Film Festival, becoming the first Russian film in history to be awarded this prize.

Captain Volkonogov Escaped was supposed to theatrically release in the Russian Federation by Central Partnership on April 7, 2022, but was postponed to autumn and then subsequently shelved.{{Cite web |url=https://www.kinometro.ru/news/show/name/my_nevyidetvprokat_5054 |trans-title=Movie "We" based on Yevgeny Zamyatin left the Russian release schedule |title=Фильм «Мы» по роману Евгения Замятина выбыл из российского графика релизов |access-date=2022-11-11 |archive-date=2022-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111205003/https://www.kinometro.ru/news/show/name/my_nevyidetvprokat_5054 |language=ru}}{{Cite web |url=https://holod.media/2022/10/13/cinema-cancel-in-russia/ |trans-title=Cinema in Russia – how is it canceled? |title=Кино в России — как его отменяют? |date=13 October 2022 |access-date=2022-11-11 |archive-date=2022-11-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221111205445/https://holod.media/2022/10/13/cinema-cancel-in-russia/ |language=ru}}

• Within the framework of the Spanish International Film Festival in Gijon, Natalya Merkulova was awarded the prize as "Best Female Director".{{Cite web|url=https://film.iksv.org/en/the-41st-istanbul-film-festival-2022/captain-volkonogov-escaped|title=The 41st International Istanbul Film Festival|website=film.iksv.org}}
• 2021 Golden Unicorn Awards: "Best Film", "Best Screenplay" and "Best Actor" (Yura Borisov){{Cite web|url=https://www.goldenunicornaward.com/nominations&winners?year=2021|title=Golden Unicorn Awards|website=goldenunicornaward.com}}
• White Elephant Awards of the Russian Guild of Film Critics and Critics in the Best Film nominations, "Best Leading Actor" (Yura Borisov) and "Best Supporting Actress" (Natalya Kudriashova).{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://www.kinometro.ru/news/show/name/bely_slon_2022_winners_7565|title=Российские кинокритики раздали «Белых слонов»|website=kinometro.ru|access-date=2022-02-08|archive-date=2022-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208184542/https://www.kinometro.ru/news/show/name/bely_slon_2022_winners_7565}}

• Selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.

Captain Volkonogov Escaped has an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 12 reviews, and an average rating of 8.2/10.{{cite web | url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/captain_volkonogov_escaped | title=Captain Volkonogov Escaped | Rotten Tomatoes | website=Rotten Tomatoes }} Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "universal acclaim" {{cite web | url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/captain-volkonogov-escaped?ftag=MCD-06-10aaa1c | title=Captain Volkonogov Escaped | website=Metacritic }}

The Guardian writer Xan Brooks believes, "Chupov and Merkulova’s handling of the material is almost playful, choosing to frame Stalin’s Russia as nightmarish deadpan comedy."{{Cite news|lang=en|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/sep/08/captain-volkogonov-escaped-review-on-the-run-in-through-the-mirror-soviet-russia|title=Captain Volkonogov Escaped review – on the run in through-the-mirror Soviet Russia|newspaper=The Guardian|date=8 September 2021 |access-date=2021-09-08 |last1=Brooks |first1=Xan }}

Vasily Stepanov, chief editor of Seans, said of the film: "According to the plot, Volkonogov is a kind of parable: a dead comrade appears to the fleeing hero, who promises him an obligatory place in hell if the captain does not beg forgiveness from at least one victim. The scene of the appearance of the infernal messenger from the common grave is made festively, as in Masodov's prose. But with apologies, and even more so with repentance, Volkonogov is tight."{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://seance.ru/articles/volkonogov-review/|title=Модный приговор — «Капитан Волконогов бежал» на «Кинотавре»|website=seance.ru|date=24 September 2021 |access-date=2021-09-24}}

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• {{IMDb title|13322726|Captain Volkonogov Escaped}}

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Category:2021 films

Category:2020s Russian-language films

Category:2020s Russian films

Category:Russian thriller films

Category:Russian-language thriller films

Category:2021 thriller films

Category:Films directed by Natalya Merkulova

Category:Films about Soviet repression

Category:Film censorship in Russia