The Ascent

In this gripping film set in the Second World War, two Soviet soldiers, Sotnikov and Rybak, try to find their way through the ice-cold forests of Belarus in search of food. They get cut off from the rest of the troops when they are spotted by a German patrol, resulting in a gunfight in the snow that leaves one German dead and Sotnikov wounded. Rybak has to get Sotnikov and himself to the nearest shelter, which is a dangerous mission in itself. Little does he know that many more hardships await them which will make them have to choose between heroism and betrayal, life and death. The characters deal with the war around them as much as a war within themselves. This grim and brutally honest anti-war masterpiece earned director Larisa Shepitko, one of the greatest film talents of the Soviet era, a Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1977.