The lack of documentation and intentional suppression of information made it difficult for the true extent of the massacre to be acknowledged. However, in recent years, efforts by local communities, researchers, and human rights organizations have helped bring the Putkinotko 1954 okru to light.

The film was shot on location in Rantasalmi, near the actual landscape Lehtonen described. It premiered on September 20, 1954. However, the reception was mixed. Critics praised the performances but felt the film’s episodic structure lost the novel’s linguistic rhythm. Commercially, it performed modestly but never achieved the status of director Edvin Laine’s The Unknown Soldier (released the following year).