[8] According to the Guardian "Tonino's father played the role of a fascist bully, causing some controversy among those who identified him with the communist antagonist of Don Camillo.

[9] Variety called it "a well made straightforward vehicle which brings to life once more some of the more dramatic moments in recent Italian history... Major impact, however, is on the local ticket buyer, who is able to catch nuances and the import of dialog, scenes, and action.

It said the director had "a good feeling for period atmosphere" but said the film "keys a certain lack of drama which results in long stretches of tedium where crisper handling would have won a wider audience.

"[10] According to an academic paper, "The ending of the film emphasises the erasure of Pino and Anna, the disabled and sexually transgressive witnesses who vanish from the screen and from the story without ever telling what they have seen.

But it also shows the complicated interplay of memory and amnesia that allows the murder victims to be memorialised... [and] calls into question the shiny new 'normality' of boom-time Italy and suggests that it rests on a collective and willful failure to remember the past.

[12][13] Enrico Maria Salerno won a Silver Ribbon for Best Supporting Actor at the 1961 Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists awards.