One of the most notable features of the film is cinematographer Sergey Urusevskiy's then ground-breaking use of hand-held cameras. He had learned how to film like this when he was a military cameraman during the war.
When the film was released in the Soviet Union, it caused a sensation amongst audiences weaned on propaganda fare. For the first time, audiences were able to weep at the pain of losing millions of their population in the war. It was also the first time that subjects like draft dodging, war profiteering and the black market had been expressed on film.
The only Soviet film to win the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or (Golden Palm). As at January 2024, no films from countries formerly part of the Soviet Union have won the Palme d'Or either. Another Soviet film, The Turning Point (1945), was one of eleven 1946 winners of the festival's earlier highest award, the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film.
Mikhail Kalatozov spent several years in Los Angeles on a diplomatic assignment where he acquired an admiration for the works of Frank Borzage, King Vidor and Vincente Minnelli.
Sergey Urusevskiy: man filming with a small, handheld 35mm camera at the right side of the train in the final scene.