People! Remember that! I'll make a reservation right away: I'm not a film critic, I'm not a film connoisseur, and I'm a historian. In simple words.
The film has a lot of inaccuracies and, in my opinion, absurdities. This is clearly anachronistic, the armament and equipment of the German cruiser, and an attempt to drink Georgian wine (where did it come from? in a so-and-so bottle; kept it all the time, going, ' derbully?), and French ' Cancan' at a German party (most likely, there should be something German, 'Aryan'); and..., yes, much more. ..
The play of some actors, in some places, again, in my opinion, looks like ... clumsy, or something ...
But... We need to watch this movie! For its creators managed to tell about the event that actually took place on August 5, 1942! About the icebreaking steamer ' A.Sibiryakov' and its unequal battle with the heavy German cruiser ' Admiral Sheer' by that time, already gained ' glory' successful raider, ' threats of sea caravans' who had both the most powerful weapons and a well-trained professional crew with solid combat experience! Captain A.A. Kacharava and all the others at 'Sibiryakov' certainly understood that there is no question of any effective counteraction to the enemy battleship. Even a hint of chance! What, even in the case of hitting, (very unlikely, given the range of guns ' Sheera') shells fired from their cannons, except that the paint on the sides ' German' scratch! But if you fulfill the enemy’s demand: stop the course, do not go on the radio and provide information about the ice situation, then... save life! Yes, the one and only, very necessary for each of us, the value of which increases many times at the moment when there is a great risk that it will soon stop! And somewhere on the shore waiting for families, close relatives of the child. Prisoner? Well, maybe not such a shameful captivity. After all, the forces are crushingly unequal! And yet...
The flag didn't come down! They didn't reset! The radio program about the meeting and fight with the cruiser was broadcast until the last opportunity! And that the enemy understood everything quite clearly - opened fire on the German giant! With a gun on the tank! This is not the fanaticism of the doomed! This is a clear awareness and fulfillment of your duty! Prevent the enemy! Disrupt the enemy's plans! Warn your own about the threat! Give me time to fight back! To wrest from the enemy ' Trump of surprise'!
The outcome of the battle is severe and predictable. 'A.Sibiryakov' burning and drowning. Less than an hour has passed and it's over. Nope! Not so!! As much as 40 - 45 minutes lasted the battle of the super cruiser with the steamer! Almost unarmed in this situation. During this time, the enemy drowned the Russian ship. Not the most modern, not the most valuable, as a combat unit. At the same time, due to the active resistance of the crew 'A.Sibiryakov', lost the effect of surprise, did not get clarity on the ice situation in the area of the planned operation to defeat two Arctic Russian convoys at once, without which all this ' idea', in fact, was foiled. The German battleship, it seems, won the battle, but certainly failed in its entire campaign. Almost wasted so much time, fuel (oh! how necessary and scarce at that time in Germany!), supplies and ammunition! The demoralizing effect of such a victory is remarkable in the mood of the German admiral (A. Filozov) after the battle. At least, for this last look ' the winner' worth watching this movie!
I deliberately don't want to make an assessment. Who has eyes, let him see.