A film set during World War 2 that’s hailed by fans as « haunting » and among the best ever made is streaming now in the UK. The Ascent (1977) is a Soviet drama that focuses on two Soviet partisans, Sotnikov (played by Boris Plotnikov) and Rybak (Vladimir Gostyukhin), who head toward a Nazi-occupied Belarus searching for supplies for their starving unit.
They manage to aquire a farm animal to sustain their fellow fighters, but are spotted on the way back by Nazi soldiers, sparking a gun battle and a desperate attempt to escape to safety. The film was directed by renowned Ukrainian-born Soviet filmmaker Larisa Shepitko. Shepitko tragically died in a car crash two years after The Ascent was released, while scouting locations for her next film, but her final work is still hailed as a seminal piece of cinema almost half a century later.
Saying with its « many references to the Crucifixion, the story takes on heroic proportions glorifying the sufferings of the martyr and his influence on future generations », lauding it as a « remarkable piece of work ».
Another said: « This intense dramatic examination of the effect of battle on two soldiers thrown together by the circumstances of World War II is brutal and often difficult to watch; it is a black and white film, and since most of the action occurs in the snow, it sometimes approaches the look of an abstract painting. »
A third added: « The slow development of the characters, and the emphasis on their complicated relationships to each other, are somewhat reminiscent of The Commissar, another great Soviet film.
« The Ascent deserves a second watching, as well as a third, and a tenth. It continues to provide interesting ideas, beautiful images, and emotional complexity. »
A fourth said: « Having just seen this, I find it hard to believe that it is not better known. This and the slightly-better-known, but almost-as-shamefully-neglected COME AND SEE (Klimov, 1986) must be two of the greatest war films.
« They are meaningful, powerful, incisive. THE ASCENT is also gifted with a sparingly-used, but brilliantly trenchant score by Schnittke. »
The film has a 12 certificate on the British Board of Film Certification (BBFC) website, but contains moderate violence, language, suicide references, a scene of hanging, and threat, so viewer discretion is advised.
The Ascent is streaming now on Amazon Prime.
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