Askoldov then studied film direction with Leonid Trauberg at the Supreme Courses for Screenwriters and Directors (VKSR), graduating in 1966.
Its banning, caused by dissatisfaction by the authorities with his "party" direction, and his refusal to change certain aspects pertaining to characterisation in the film (which they requested), put an end to his career as a director in the USSR.
[2] The montage of Komissar coincided with the end of the Six-Day War, and since Askoldov refused to change the ethnic origin of the Jewish family, he condemned himself to official ostracism.
After making the movie, Askoldov lost his job, was expelled from the Communist Party, charged with social parasitism, exiled from Moscow and banned from working on feature films for life.
In 1986, due to glasnost policies, the "Conflict Commission" of the Soviet Film-makers Union recommended the re-release of the movie but Goskino refused to act.