It's an unfortunate fate of history that people in the West think of the Second World War being won souly by the combined efforts of Britain and America . It says a lot about Western ignorance when the British Prime Minister David Cameron once stated that " We [ The UK ] were Junior partners in the [ Angol-American ] alliance in 1940 " when in fact the USA were still neutral at this point in the Second World War . In reality it was the Soviet Union who made the biggest contribution to the defeat of Nazi Germany inflicting over 80% of all German casualties while suffering 30 million war dead . This is something that has been unfortunately forgotten . Perhaps it's down to the fact that it's not so much the victors who rewrite history but patriotic Hollywood producers
HOT SNOW very much resembles a Hollywood production . It's a flag waver but instead of the stars and stripes it's waving a red flag celebrating the Red Army . Nothing wrong with that and it does show the hellish conditions the Soviet fighting man had to endure , not only from the weather and the fascist invaders but also their own side . Unfortunately it does somewhat sugar coat the sometimes brutal methods dished out by the political commissars . For example a tank commander faces summary court martial then for no explanation the commissar changes his mind and allows the commander to redeem himself in battle . Despite its flaws ENEMY AT THE GATES is a much better film for showing the pressure the Soviet army was under from its own side
Despite its simplicity and its lack of character development the battle scenes of HOT SNOW are certainly impressive as artillery crews try to stem a German spearhead thrust in to Stalingrad . In some ways you feel the director has been heavily influenced by the battle scenes of Masaki Kobayashi's THE HUMAN CONDITION as the Tiger tanks cut their way through the Soviet lines . As a testimony of the fighting spirit of the Soviet Union it succeeds in its function but you're left feeling that its only function