At the end, we learn that Nikolai was persecuted to make room not for the mayor's palace, but for a cathedral. Even the Russian clichés – tragedy stemming from overweening power, vodka, swearing, shooting, and shouting – only strengthen the film's extraordinary depiction of the local effects of distant and devastating forces.
斗争到最后，尼古拉的生活被摧毁了。他的妻子死于非命，而他则被控因为妻子与他的朋友有染而杀妻。最后，我们看到尼古拉被迫去造房子——不是为了镇长的宫室，而是为了一座教堂。甚至俄罗斯的老桥段——过度的力量、伏特加、赌咒、枪击和咆哮导致的悲剧——也起到了强化影片对遥远的破坏力量的地方影响的卓越描绘。