The Ascent
| The Ascent | |
|---|---|
 German poster - (left to right) Rybak, the village headman, Sotnikov, the young girl, Demchikha |
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| Directed by | Larisa Shepitko |
| Written by | Vasil Bykov (novel Sotnikov) Yuri Klepikov Larisa Shepitko |
| Starring | Boris Plotnikov Vladimir Gostyukhin Sergei Yakovlev Lyudmila Polyakova Anatoli Solonitsyn |
| Music by | Alfred Schnittke |
| Cinematography | Vladimir Chukhnov Pavel Lebeshev |
| Release date(s) | 1977 (USSR) 22 December 1978 (US) |
| Running time | 111 minutes |
| Country | Soviet Union |
| Language | Russian |
The Ascent (Russian: Восхождение, Voskhozhdeniye), is a 1977 black-and-white Soviet war film directed by Larisa Shepitko and made at Mosfilm. It was Shepitko's last film before her death in a car accident in 1979. The film won the Golden Bear award at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival in 1977.[1]
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[edit] Plot
During the Great Patriotic War (World War II), two Soviet partisans go to a Belarusian village in search of food. After taking a farm animal from the collaborationist headman (Sergei Yakovlev), they head back to their unit, but are spotted by a German patrol. Though the two men get away, Sotnikov (Boris Plotnikov) is shot in the leg. Rybak (Vladimir Gostyukhin) has to take him to the nearest shelter, the home of Demchikha (Lyudmila Polyakova), the mother of three young children. However, they are discovered and captured.
The two men and a sobbing Demchikha are taken to the German camp. Sotnikov is questioned first by the traitor Portnov (Anatoli Solonitsyn). When he refuses to answer Portnov's questions, Sotnikov is brutally tortured by members of the Belarusian Auxiliary Police, loyal to the Germans, but gives up no information. However, Rybak is a different story. He tells as much as he thinks the police already know, hoping to live so he can escape later. The headman, now suspected of supporting the partisans, and a young girl are imprisoned in the same cellar for the night.
The next morning, all are led out to be hanged. Rybak persuades Portnov and the Germans to let him join the police. The others are executed.
As he heads back to the camp with his new comrades, Rybak is vilified by the villagers. Finally realizing what he has done, he tries to hang himself with his belt in the outhouse, but the belt becomes unfastened. He ties it more securely, but cannot summon the courage to go through with it a second time.
[edit] Cast
- Boris Plotnikov - Sotnikov
- Vladimir Gostyukhin - Rybak
- Sergei Yakovlev - Village elder
- Lyudmila Polyakova - Demchikha
- Viktoriya Goldentul - Basya
- Anatoli Solonitsyn - Portnov, the Nazi interrogator
- Mariya Vinogradova - Village elder's wife
- Nikolai Sektimenko - Stas'
[edit] References
- ^ "Berlinale 1977 - Filmdatenblatt". Archiv der Internationale Filmfestspiele in Berlin. 1977. http://www.berlinale.de/de/archiv/jahresarchive/1977/02_programm_1977/02_Filmdatenblatt_1977_19770001.php. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Ascent at the Internet Movie Database
- The Ascent at AllRovi
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