The Ascent
Восхождение
Soviet Union • 1977
Director
#1063Criterion Collection →Synopsis
The crowning triumph of a career cut tragically short, the final film from Larisa Shepitko won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival and went on to be hailed as one of the finest works of late Soviet cinema. In the darkest days of World War II, two partisans set out for supplies to sustain their beleaguered outfit, braving the blizzard-swept landscape of Nazi-occupied Belorussia. When they fall into the hands of German forces and come face-to-face with death, each must choose between martyrdom and betrayal, in a spiritual ordeal that lifts the film’s earthy drama to the plane of religious allegory. With stark, visceral cinematography that pits blinding white snow against pitch-black despair, THE ASCENT finds poetry and transcendence in the harrowing trials of war.
Synopsis
The crowning triumph of a career cut tragically short, the final film from Larisa Shepitko won the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival and went on to be hailed as one of the finest works of late Soviet cinema. In the darkest days of World War II, two partisans set out for supplies to sustain their beleaguered outfit, braving the blizzard-swept landscape of Nazi-occupied Belorussia. When they fall into the hands of German forces and come face-to-face with death, each must choose between martyrdom and betrayal, in a spiritual ordeal that lifts the film’s earthy drama to the plane of religious allegory. With stark, visceral cinematography that pits blinding white snow against pitch-black despair, THE ASCENT finds poetry and transcendence in the harrowing trials of war.
Part of Box Set
Criterion Closet Picks
(3)
Credits
Crew
DirectorLarisa Shepitko
WriterYuri Klepikov, Larisa Shepitko
CinematographerVladimir Chukhnov
ComposerAlfred Schnittke
EditorValeriya Belova
ProducerWillie Geller
Cast
Boris Plotnikovas Борис Андреевич Сотников
Vladimir Gostyukhinas Коля Рыбак
Sergey Yakovlevas Пётр Сыч, староста