 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 Stanislavskys 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 Stanislavskis faithful students, they played exactly as  he directed.