It's exactly what you'd expect: tepid, artsy, and grayish.

Thanks to Mr. Kalatozov's direction and the excellent performance Tatyana Samoilova gives as the girl, one absorbs a tremendous feeling of sympathy from this film -- a feeling that has no awareness of geographical or political bounds.

A key post-war effort, both for its cinematic audacity and for its frank, moving depiction of families and lovers torn apart by violence.

...a truly imposing visual architecture, rendered in exquisite black and white and featuring incredible use of space by cinematographer Sergei Urusevsky. [Full review in Spanish]