The Ascent

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Tyler S @tmanstro Oct 7, 2026 The acting across the board is fantastic. Feels like watching a documentary vs a fictional movie with the black and white look plus on location shooting. This and Come and See are elite Belorussian movies. See more Merick H @RT59327164 Nov 9, 2025 I was very bored by this film and I wasn't, at all, impressed by it visually either. The concept is interesting, but ultimately, this one fell flat for me. See more Kezia N. @RT46631383 Oct 19, 2025 Absolutely 100%. It stays with you. See more Ronnie M @spuncake Aug 31, 2025 Powerful, real and brilliant .......Easily 5 stars or more ! See more Leaburn O @RT35452347 Nov 13, 2024 A very chilling Russian WWII film based in Belarus and focusing primarily on the reactions of various characters to capture, interrogation and ultimately to execution. One that will be difficult to shake and works as an excellent psychological and philosophical watch as opposed to an all out action war film. Watched on Amazon Prime. See more William L @RT77267842 Nov 14, 2021 Do you remember when The Revenant came out and critics showered adoration upon Leonardo di Caprio because of the extremes that he went through, mistaking an actor's suffering for insightful cinema? The Ascent is like that, except the film attached to it is also very good. Shot on location in a brutal winter hellscape, The Ascent is both the last film and the masterpiece of Soviet director Larisa Shepitko; a biting depiction of the soul-searching and the crisis of identity caused by war. Feeling the pain of hunger, cold, and battle, every character is haunted by the perpetual cloud of death, and as it gets closer they begin to act in radically different ways - some compromise early and throw their full weight into collaboration, some beg mercy, some are stallwart holdouts, and others attempt to toe the line between compromise and honor. Infusing subversive religious themes, the film's chief contrast is between Plotnikov's Sotnikov (Christ-like and self-sacrificing) and Gostyukhin's Rybak, introduced as rugged and world-wise before ultimately descending into a betrayer (literally called 'Judas' by a bystander). However, in Shepitko's winter wasteland, Rybak isn't even granted the mercy of suicide, and instead the film ends with him a devastated shell cursed to live with his decision; leave your romanticized interpretations at home, we're opting for brutality here. Nearly banned by the Soviet authorities due to its symbolism (and likely would have been, if not for its candid depiction of the Eastern Front of World War II), The Ascent is a tough war film to get through, but timeless in its bleak interpretation of the emotional toll of war. (4.5/5) See more Read all reviews

The Ascent

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