Originally intended by Sokurov as his diploma defense at the VGIK, The Lonely Voice of Man was banned in the USSR until the glasnost.

All the actors in the film were amateurs, and a combination of this along with the sulky provincial landscapes created a sense of realism coupled with artistry that made the feature stand out.

Here Sokurov already began to approach his main theme - the tragic separation between the body and the soul.

In his diary, Sokurov noted that in Platonov, he saw the "story of a 'weak heart', for which happiness was 'hard work'."

[2] The film is dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky who supported Sokurov morally during his battle against the Soviet censors.