"[Zurlini] left a comparatively small oeuvre of finely crafted films, which, in the final analysis, are all expressions of a singular vision, informed, of course, by the age in which they were made. But at the same time, they transcend context and reveal an essential truth: that man is a captive. Zurlini's is a cinema without escape or excuses, the kind of cinema that doesn't change on repeat viewing, but that can be returned to, and that stands as it is" (Olaf Möller).