49 Years Later, This Forgotten 1970s War Movie Is One of the Highest-Rated on Letterboxd

Belarus, 1942. Shots ring out in the snow. A group of Soviet partisans duck for cover behind the sparse tree line. From a distance, Axis forces open fire. The rebels are tired. They’re weak. They’re hungry. But they have to move. The Germans pick them off, one by one, as they slog through knee-high powder in search of safety. This is the Eastern Front in wintertime, a small taste of the grueling conditions faced by guerrilla fighters during World War II. It’s also where Larisa Shepitko’s 1977 film The Ascent drops viewers: in media res, stark black-and-white cinematography underscoring just how unforgiving this barren, frozen landscape would be even without bullets flying your way.