It was the first feature-length film by Sri Lankan director Lester James Peries. The film was well received internationally. It was shown at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival and was included in the main competition. It is still the only Sri Lankan film to be nominated for the Palme d'Or. The cinematography was by Wiliam Blake. Despite much acclaim, the film was not a commercial success in Sri Lanka due to its defiance of the mainstream concept of what a film is (i.e. one of a romance between a girl and a boy, fights, comedy, songs with Hindi tunes). Since that time it has become one of the best known Sinhala movies and is considered as marking the birth of a uniquely Sri Lankan cinema.