sentences:  Balabanov aspired to make the film incredibly realistic, to the point of naturalism.Before shooting, he interviewed former captives from the First Chechen War, traveled to the villages of Kabardino-Balkaria, met with General Viktor Kazantsev, the commander of the Russian troops in Chechnya, and watched videotapes chronicling Chechen atrocities.Some of these tapes he demonstrated to the English actor Ian Kelly.