The film contains a number of religious references, particularly to the lead up to the crucifixion. While she does show the collaborators as the clear heels, she nevertheless also shows why many turned to such tactics - survival. Shepitko shows us the intimate horrors of war through the internal conflict between fellow Russians - those who collaborated and those who fought back. The second half of the film is filled with moral dilemmas. It never takes the easy road or gives us comforting answers. It addresses difficult questions with painful rationality.
#The ascent 1977 movie#
The movie does not fall into simplistic plot devices or destinations. Along the way they must confront not only enemy soldiers, but the harsh conditions of the Russian plains, potential betrayal and their own souls. Not wanting to return empty handed, they continue on deeper into enemy territory. They're originally only to go to a nearby farm, but when they arrive they find it razed by the Germans. Set during the darkest days of WWII in snowy rural Russia, two partisans trudge their way across the land in search of food after their party is attacked by Nazi patrols. They've released two of Shepitko's best works through their Eclipse department - Wings, and her penultimate masterpiece The Ascent. That has now changed thanks to the folks at Criterion. Nevertheless, her work remained in obscurity throughout the years that followed, usually only available on rare and poor copies on video. Her last film, The Ascent, is widely regarded as one of the finest Soviet films of the 1970s. Despite her short career, she however managed to create some of the best Soviet films of her time. Her bright career as a director only lasted a single decade, ended abruptly by a tragic car accident. The Ascent (1977) Larisa Shepitko is a name very few are familiar with.
0 kommentar(er)
