The original director was Konstantin Stanislavski. The movie was actually made by simply filming the whole stage play "Na dne" directed by Stanislavsky at the Moskow Art Theatre (MKhAT). The original Stanislavsky's work was staged in the late 1930s, then filmed with the same actors and at exactly the same staging, design, costumes, movements and sequence of scenes as directed by Konstantin Stanislavski. The filming was postponed several times because of the political situation under dictatorship of Joseph Stalin, and hardship during the Second World War. Stanislavski died before the film was completed, but his actors (who were also his original students) completed the film according to direction of their teacher and, being Stanislavski's faithful students, they played exactly as he directed.
