 The Venice Film Festival jury defined the movie as "confirmation of his [Mikhalkov's] mastery in exploring and revealing to us, with great humanity and emotion, the complexity of existence".Russian president Vladimir Putin together with the film crew, Chechnya's president Ramzan Kadyrov and Ingushetia's president Murat Zyazikov watched the film in Putin's residence in Novo-Ogarevo.After the screening Putin remarked that the film "brought a tear to the eye".