Winter War in popular culture The influence of the Winter War in popular culture has been deep and wide , not only in Finnish culture , but also worldwide . The Finnish struggle against the Soviet Union has been seen as a classic David versus Goliath situation . The Winter War began three months after World War II started , and the war had full media attention as other European fronts had a calm period . Movies and television . The 1940 play " There Shall Be No Night " by American playwright Robert E . Sherwood was inspired by a moving Christmas 1939 broadcast to America by war correspondent Bill White of CBS . The play was produced on Broadway in 1940 , and won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for Drama . The 1940 American film " Ski Patrol " features a Finnish reserve unit defending the border against Russians . The film took great historical liberties in its storyline and was photographed by the Hollywood master Milton Krasner . In 1989 , the Finnish movie " Talvisota " was released . This film tells the story of a Finnish platoon of reservists from Kauhava . The platoon belongs to the 23rd Infantry Regiment , which consists almost solely of men from Southern Ostrobothnia . The 2006 documentary " " shows how the Winter War influenced World War II and how Finland mobilized against the world ' s largest military power . In 2011 Philip Kaufman began filming HBO ' s Hemingway & Gellhorn , which features Martha Gellhorn ( played by Nicole Kidman ) reporting from Finland during The Winter War . Steven Wiig portrays Simo Häyhä , leading a group of Finnish soldiers to shelter . Literature . At the end and within a year after the Winter War – years 1940 – 1941 – much literature was published in the Soviet Union . Books were very narrow by their military history and operations , but they had a strong political in - line message . The overall campaign was disastrous , so literature found its pride in the details of battles and military heroes . For example the breakthrough of the Mannerheim Line was represented as " legendary " performance by the Red Army . The 1940 boy ' s adventure story " Biggles Sees It Through " by W . E . Johns is set during the final stages of the war . Squadron Leader James Bigglesworth is allowed by the British government to go in a party of volunteers to " help the Finns in their struggle against Soviet aggression " . They fly reconnaissance raids from a base at Oskar in a Bristol Blenheim bomber , and encounter a Polish scientist with secret papers on new aircraft alloys , plus von Stalhein their old World War I enemy . The 2007 novel The Burnt - out Town of Miracles by Roy Jacobsen ( Author ) , Don Bartlett and Don Shaw ( Translators ) tells the story of the Winter War through the eyes of one man , Timo the woodcutter , and the small Finnish town of Suomussalmi where he lives . Music . Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton recorded the song " Talvisota " , about the Winter War , on their 2008 album " The Art of War " , as well as the song " White Death " , about Finnish sniper Simo Häyhä , on their 2010 album " Coat of Arms " . Swedish power metal band Insania made the song " The Land of the Wintersun " , depicting the war from a Finnish point of view . The song was featured on their 2001 album " Sunrise in Riverland " . Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene has a song Total War - Winter War on its " Suomi Finland Perkele " CD . Games . In a 1992 column in " Pelit " , " Wexteen " ( Jyrki J . J . Kasvi ) lamented the difficulty of modelling the war in interactive entertainment . According to Wexteen , if the game mechanics are based on troop strengths , troops will march through Helsinki ; if on historical events , through Moscow . The Winter War was featured in a scenario of the grand strategy game " Hearts of Iron 2 " and received dedicated games in the wargame " " and the educational real - time strategy game " " .