Anecdotes

Soviet censors made Aleksandr Dovzhenko eliminate a number of scenes from the film, including the scene of peasants urinating into a tractor radiator, and the scene of nude woman mourning over her dead fiance. The original uncut version was screened in Ukrainian republic when first released, and then in the Museum of Modern Art (New York City, USA) about 40 years later, on 10 October 1969.

Andrei Tarkovsky quoted this film as one of his favourite.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

This film was voted one of the 12 greatest films of all time by a group of 117 film historians at the 1958 Brussels World Fair.

Was selected by UNESCO in 2015 as one of only five films to be screened at a festival of world masterpieces to celebrate is 70th anniversary.