"A Captive in the Land" was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. Stephen Holden in his review for "The New York Times", noted: "Had it stuck to the stark physical realities of the situation, "A Captive in the Land," which opens today at the Angelika Film Center, could have been a gripping film. But the movie, which was completed before the crumbling of the Soviet Union, insists on lending the relationship between the American and the Russian a turgid metaphoric significance."