This movie has beautiful landscapes. We’re seeing, especially in foreign films, a movement away from the studio setting to shoot films to outdoor locations, on-location filmmaking. The shots are beautiful because of the settings it takes place in. You just can't fake the sort of images that show the horizon line extending forever.
In terms of the story it is once again brutal and bold with the white man’s burden being called directly into question by the filmmaker. The storyline was gripping and captivating and this film, as later films would, dealt with the issues of “foreigners” and how the viewpoints of foreigners are changing with the times. The Russians especially are utilizing film and the associative editing techniques of Eisenstein to call into question the validity of Western capitalism. This film is very much a piece of a propaganda war being waged in the minds of audience goers not just in the Soviet Union but in the world at large because film is a medium for the masses.