The movie:
- Genius Bonus: There are a lot of references to Russian literature (particularly Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky) as well as to the films of Ingmar Bergman and Sergei Eisenstein.
- Harsher in Hindsight: The film refers to suicide numerous times. Olga Georges-Picot, the actress who plays Countess Alexandrovna, took her own life. She suffered from severe depression throughout her life and fell from a Paris building during a bout with the illness.
- One-Scene Wonder: Jessica Harper provides a superb example of The Comically Serious as Natasha, Sonja's mopey cousin who goes on and on about her Love Dodecahedron.
- Special Effects Failure: Played for Laughs. The slap sound effect when the Countess' fiancee smacks Boris. He very visibly misses but the sound effects acts as if struck Boris.
