Ascent shows a very different form of fear, one that is raw and galling.

| Sep 4, 2024

Shepitko’s film is less interested in presenting a simplistic anti-war message and aims for something higher, spiritual transcendence.

| Sep 23, 2022

Though familiar, this is a fable re-created with an unabashed sense of grandeur as well as deeply touching humanity.

| Mar 1, 2022

Shepitko excels in conveying physical hardships and evoking a strong sense of locale. The foreboding landscape and the harsh physicality reflect the film's hard unflinching morality.

| Mar 1, 2022

A remarkable piece of work, not least for being filmed in black-and-white against a vast, bleak expanse of snow.

| Mar 1, 2022

Shepitko none the less boasts a bravura style that has not frequently been seen in recent socialist cinema.

| Mar 1, 2022

Unhappily, these Passion Play references are forced a little too much in the playing, yet it has amazing moments.

| Mar 1, 2022

The film is less a spiritual tract than a relentlessly physical document: the snow, ice, and mud of Shepitko’s landscapes are the primary characters in the story.

| Mar 1, 2022

Larisa Shepitko’s final film before her untimely death at 41, The Ascent is a lyrical evocation of the costs of moral and spiritual fortitude in times of great despair.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Mar 1, 2022

This story of a couple of partisans trapped by German occupiers of a village is spiritually harrowing and visually stunning.

| Mar 1, 2022