“The film explores the role of the artist in society and also makes a plea for the artist's freedom of expression.”  —Los Angeles Times

"The film was not very popular when it first reached the movie theaters, a fact which people tried to explain with the episodic structure, the unheroic hero and the ironic undertone. Meanwhile it seems that the film is becoming increasingly important, a dicovery on the second try." —Regine Sylvester, Konrad Wolf Retro

"A man works. He is no different from other people, he only does his work, and possibly and in some special way he is sensitive to his environment. the general impression of artistic activity often becomes polarized into an attitude of mystification on one hand and ignorance on the other. Mystification fosters the intangible and ethereal—the wind before the window, the kiss of the muse, the idea of the artist as an absolutely incomparable man. Ignorance propagates the two-fisted attitude that anyone could create art if he or she would only take nough time and was not busy doing truly serious things. We regard both attitudes skeptically." —Scriptwriter Wolfgang Kohlhaase

"One of the DEFA Studio's most introspective productions!"  —Sean Allan, DEFA at the Crossroads of East German and International Film Culture

"Director Konrad Wolf has given the film some good incidents and good feel for the actual work involved in sculpting. [...] A fairly outspoken pic!" —Variety

“[Konrad] Wolf succeeds in conveying fundamental questions out of scenes about daily life. These are filmed in an unpretentious and unrealistic manner, but then unexpectedly carry a satirical punch line.” –Ulrich Gregor, Geschichte des Films

“A quiet and accurate analysis (and deconstruction) of daily life in East Germany.” –stern.de

“A quiet, episodic film satire by DEFA director Konrad Wolf, who satirizes scenes of GDR everyday life and describes the conflicting position of the artist in his [or her] society. With its nuanced and ambitious content and composition, it is one of the best DEFA films ever.” –film-dienst

“A tragicomic satire about the artist’s existence in general, and in East Germany in particular.” –achtung berlin! Film Festival

“A central and possibly least recognized work by Wolf is The Naked Man on the Sports Field. The director tragicomically pairs memories of the [Nazi] persecution of Jews with the often unsuccessful struggle for artistic presence in socialist society.” –Der Tagesspiegel

“A film that is not about sharply dramatic conflicts, but rather the daily experiences of an artist in contemporary socialist society. The episodes are more suggestive than arranged, full of authentic details and humorous nuances, and without a trace of stereotypes or whitewashing.” –Die Zeit, 1974