The Ascent (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Directed by: Larisa Shepitko

Description

The crowning triumph of a career cut tragically short, The Ascent is Larisa Shepitko’s final film and winner of the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival. In the bleakest days of World War II, two partisans trek across the blizzard-swept landscape of Nazi-occupied Belarus in search of supplies for their beleaguered unit.

When they are captured by German forces and confronted with the prospect of death, each man must choose between martyrdom and betrayal, in a spiritual ordeal that lifts the story from raw wartime drama to the realm of religious allegory. With stark, visceral cinematography that pits blinding white snow against pitch-black despair, The Ascent finds poetry and transcendence amid the harrowing trials of war.

Key Features

• Acclaimed World War II drama directed by Larisa Shepitko.
• Winner of the Golden Bear at the 1977 Berlin Film Festival.
• Widely regarded as one of the finest works of late-Soviet cinema.
• Set in Nazi-occupied Belarus during the darkest days of the war.
• Starring Boris Plotnikov, Lyudmila Polyakova, Sergey Yakovlev, Viktoriya Goldentul, and Vladimir Gostyukhin.
• Media format: Blu-ray, subtitled; English subtitles included.
• MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated).
• Release date: January 26, 2021.
• Studio: The Criterion Collection.

Special Features