“nationalist propaganda”. One has to understand that Nevzorov is s a cynical man by nature, who has not just seen the war trough the tube but been there himself. He in his own words remembers soldiers trying to hold their guts from falling out with their own hands, the feeling of walking “on a carpet of casings” and last but not least knowing and understanding the mentality and psychology of both sides in the war – Chechen and Russian. Nevzorov is neither friend or enemy of either sides, in his own words. This war “nummed” him to nationalism, civil life etc. This movie can not be called anything else but “demotivational”, but nationalistic it’s absolutely not. Now to the movie itself: it’s a horror show like no other. It is perhaps too gory, but what else can be said of a film that tries to condense a whole war into just over an hour’s time. In the movie there are no heroes – everyone alone with their truth, everyone having a price to pay. The first Chechenya campaign was a bloody failure, and that’s what this movie tries to portray. No glorious “one squad takes on an army” style American feelgoodism, no fancy happy end, just a meaningless slaughter that is the war that could just as well be called a civil war. The main characters is a team of Spetznaz and chechen doctor turned field commander. The plot is very basic, but based on real events. If it was taken too far or had some “blood icing” put on this cake of misery, perhaps. But the movie stands out, despite that, as a monument of Russian realism – balancing perfectly between that and defeatism.