The Ascent (1977) : The brutality of war is shown through human morality and emotions
In The Ascent 1977 the brutality and terror of war is portrayed not through the means of guns, war machines and the violence that ensues through the images of battle but rather the human emotions and moral ambiguity of various characters. This take makes it more heartbreaking as the characters are in the brink of death and escaping the terror is illustrated with beautiful cinematic expression. The film is directed by the famous Larisa Shepitko. She is regarded as one of the best female directors from Russia and she was one of the most prominent filmmakers of the soviet era. Her take on the moral dilemma of war is differentiated from the norm of the genre and her making of the film The Ascent is a perfect example of this dilemma.
It tells the story of two soldiers or partisans that get captured by enemy soldiers and must try to escape from their hold. They are sent to retrieve food from a nearby village as their group does not have much food to survive. Hence the two characters Sotnikov (played by Boris Plotnikov) and Rybak (played by Vladimir Gostyukhin) are sent on this mission. Sotnikov is already battered with rough cough and fever, so Rybak initially insists he goes alone but Sotnikov follows him nonetheless and this establishes a good comradery at the start between them. They visit a village elder and his wife. He is seen reading a bible and the wife provides some hot potatoes. They ask if they have a cow or goat they can take back. But they also ask the difficult question as to if he is working for the Germans and he replies with an honest answer this makes both Sotnikov and Rybak displeased but they don’t do any harm and leave the elders house with a goat. As they are returning to the group, they find a couple of German soldiers and get attacked and eventually escape them, but Sotnikov gets shot on the leg. So Rybak takes him to a nearby house which is occupied by Demchika who has three children. As they are occupied at their house, they see three Germans approaching and Demchika hides them at their loft but to their demise they are captured.
The initial impression I got from the film was how stunning it looked. The cinematography is beautiful and the shots of the distant terrains to the claustrophobic moments when engaged with the enemy to the snow filled frames are gorgeous to look at. The camera is also used for many close ups of the characters as they are trapped in brutal situations. The landscapes are vast, and it is mostly shot on snowy mountains with harsh conditions. The atmosphere and environment are perfect for this story as the snow and frozen background invigorate the chilling moments of the characters. The weather has been used as a tool to tell this story of survival and the cinematography has captured that survival with intent.
Larisa delves with the consequences of the war in a different manner. The humane aspects and the actions that they take. Moral ambiguity and even overtones of faith are dealt with through the characters. For example, Rybak doesn’t believe in self-sacrifice and will go through any means for survival even to the likes of offering himself to help and join the German police while Sotnikov does the total opposite as he is willing to sacrifice himself to save the others. The moment of conversation of this moral differentiation between Rybak and Sotnikov is powerful as we can understand from both their perspectives. This moral conundrum is more brutal as we see it progress towards the end and Larisa shoots these scenes with the intimacy and channelizes the bone chilling moments with intimate shots of the faces of our characters which leaves us distressed and uncomfortable. But the other fascinating aspect is the other three characters i.e., the village elder, Demchika and a small girl that only arrives later. All these five characters are trapped together in their last moments and Larisa showcases her overtones of moral ambiguity and faith through these characters and sequences that are very hard-hearted to watch. The characters act as if they are in that situation and the authenticity of her filmmaking shines especially during those sequences.
This is Shepitko’s last film before she had passed away from a tragic accident. She had filmed this in brutal conditions and the weather was below 40 degrees, making the actors feel as if they were in that situation. She imbued most of her philosophy in her films and her authentic take of war in this picture is nothing like I have ever seen in any other film. It was mostly overlooked and didn’t get much recognition in foreign diaspora as Come and See (1985) became more of the hit outside of Russia and became a cult in war film history which may have overshadowed this gem.
Nonetheless this is a masterpiece. A film that leaves an impact and incorporates a heart-wrenching drama with complex and masterful filmmaking.