Smirnov has stated that his intention in making the film was to show what really happened under Vladimir Lenin, who said he wanted to tackle the problem of "landlords and capitalists. In reality, none of these classes suffered percentage wise as much as the two most hated by Lenin, the peasantry and clergy. I really wanted to tell people about this. I am an urban dweller and it took me years to get deep into the theme of the Antonov Uprising."
