[2] A young man, Ivan, is forcefully mobilised and sent to fight in the Caucasian War as a soldier of the Russian Empire by his landlord, leaving his wife behind.

Upon its release, it received mixed reviews, with filmmakers and Soviet state press initially supporting it,[2] and Russian film critics strongly condemning it.

Despite early positive reviews in the press, on 13 February 1936, the article "A Crude Scheme Instead of Historical Truth" was published in Pravda, sharply criticising the film.

The "manifest failure" of Prometheus, according to M. Koltsov, the article's author, was that, "Instead of the historical truth shown by the means of art, it gives a crude scheme that distorts history.

[5] In March 1936, Kavaleridze wrote an article titled "Invaluable Help", in which he promised to "repent" for Prometheus by creating a new film which would take into mind the critiques laid out in Pravda.