History was made with this film's sequence, particularly the scene that depicted a mother who carries her wounded son up the steps, while Cossacks prepare to shoot another round on the panicked citizens below. The Odessa steps sequence is a powerful recreation of what it's like to be caught in the midst of random violence. As the soldiers march down the stairs, their movement is intercut with people running and faces terrified of the horror. A soldier slashes angrily at the camera, and the director cuts to a close-up of an old woman whose face is torn open.