The Ascent

Восхождение (1977)

Timing: 1:51 (111 min)

7.8/10
234

8.166/10
29271

8.2/10
12000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 16

Actors and characters

Release date

1977-04-02

Country

Production

Mosfilm, Tretye Tvorcheskoe Obyedinenie

Genre

Drama, War

Budget

$0

Revenue

$0

Website

Director

Larisa Shepitko

Actors

Boris Plotnikov, Vladimir Gostyukhin, Sergei Yakovlev, Lyudmila Polyakova, Viktoriya Goldentul, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Mariya Vinogradova, Mykola Sektymenko, Sergei Kanishchev, Vladimir Rudyy
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Larisa Shepitko, Yuri Klepikov

Producer

Operator

Pavel Lebeshev

Composer

Alfred Schnittke

Artist

Audition

Editing

Valeriya Belova
All team (11)

• The film is based on the story "Sotnikov" by Vasil Bykov.
• Boris Plotnikov and Vladimir Gostyukhin played their first major roles in the film.
• The film was on the verge of being banned and was released only after the intervention of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, Pyotr Masherov.
• The first Soviet film to receive the highest award at the International Film Festival in West Berlin – the ‘Golden Bear’.
• The last completed film in Larisa Shepitko’s directing career. Three years after the film’s release, Shepitko died in a car accident while filming ‘Farewell to Matera’. The film’s cinematographer, Vladimir Chukhnov, also died in the same accident.
• Filming took place in an atmosphere of severe stress. Technical and organizational difficulties led to the need to call an ambulance to the set to provide medical assistance to the director.
• The film's title was coined by Shepitko's husband, Elem Klimov. Following a long-standing tradition between the future spouses, established back in 1963, he received ten rubles for the idea.
• It took Larisa Shepitko four years from the time she read the story ‘Sotnikov’ to prepare, obtain permission from her superiors, and begin filming.
• Shepitko decided to use unknown or little-known actors whose past roles would not overshadow their characters in the film. Because of this, she had to turn down Andrei Myagkov, who very much wanted to star in the film. The same fate befell Nikolai Gubenko. Vladimir Vysotsky also did not pass the audition, eager to play the Fisherman.
• From the very beginning of the casting search for the role of Sotnikov, Larisa Shepitko instructed the casting assistant, Emma Baskakova, to keep in mind the image of Christ, although it was forbidden to speak about it aloud. Boris Plotnikov, then a 25-year-old actor of the Sverdlovsk TYYuZ (Youth Theater), was, in the director’s opinion, the best candidate for the role, but officials from Goskino saw in Shepitko’s vision an intention to “smuggle Jesus onto the Soviet screen.” Plotnikov, whose repertoire previously consisted mainly of roles as fairytale animals, even had to be made up to further heroize the image in order for the artistic council to approve him for the role. The actor went through seven auditions in total, for which he constantly had to fly from Sverdlovsk to Moscow.
• For the role of the Fisherman, the director reviewed twenty candidates. The twenty-first was young Vladimir Gostyukhin.
• Filming, which began on January 6, 1974, on Larisa Shepitko’s birthday (according to other sources – filming began on January 5), took place in the vicinity of the city of Murom. The first scenes filmed were outdoor scenes – among fields, forests, and ravines – despite forty-degree frosts. According to Boris Plotnikov, the frost and pristine snow were essential conditions put forward by Vasily Bykov. This approach was approved by Shepitko, who said that the actors had to “feel the winter with every cell” for a more authentic immersion into their roles. The filming process was planned in such a way that the performers of the main roles began with the simplest episodes in psychological and acting terms, which allowed them to gradually immerse themselves in their characters.
• Long before “The Ascent,” Shepitko had suffered from hepatitis. Moreover, she had not fully recovered, and the consequences of the illness negatively affected her well-being during the filming of “The Ascent.” In addition, she suffered from severe pain due to a recent spinal injury. But Shepitko still got up two to three hours earlier than the film crew to recover, after which she worked at the limit of her strength all day. Thanks to this dedication, filming proceeded without interruption and was completed a month ahead of schedule.
• Vasily Bykov greatly valued Larisa Shepitko and once admitted that if he had met her earlier, he might have written 'Sotnikov' differently.
• Gostyukhin recalled that he so fully embodied the Fisherman that the makeup bruise didn't disappear from his face for three weeks. After filming, the actor struggled for a long time to recover, trying to become himself again, not his character, and even refused to star in Larisa Shepitko's next film, despite her persistent requests.
• The film is based on the story "Sotnikov" by Vasily Bykov.
• The first Soviet film to receive the highest award at the International Film Festival in West Berlin — the Golden Bear.
• The last completed film in the directing career of Larisa Shepitko. Three years after the film's release, Shepitko died in a car accident while filming "Farewell to Matera." The cameraman of "The Ascent," Vladimir Chukhnоv, also died in the same car accident.
• The filming of the film took place in an atmosphere of severe stress. Technical and organizational difficulties led to the need to call an ambulance to provide medical assistance to the director on set.
• It took Larisa Shepitko four years from the time she read the story “Sotnikov” to prepare, obtain permission from the authorities, and begin filming the movie.
• From the very beginning of the search for an actor to play Sotnikov, Larisa Shepitko instructed the casting assistant, Emma Baskakova, to keep the image of Christ in mind, although it was forbidden to speak about it aloud. Boris Plotnikov, a 25-year-old actor from the Sverdlovsk Youth Theater at the time, seemed to the director to be the best candidate for the role, but officials at Goskino saw in Shepitko’s vision an intention to “smuggle Jesus onto the Soviet screen.” Plotnikov, whose repertoire previously consisted mainly of roles as fairytale animals, even had to be made up to further heroize the image in order for the artistic council to approve him for the role. The actor went through seven auditions, requiring him to constantly fly from Sverdlovsk to Moscow.
• Filming, which began on January 6, 1974, on Larisa Shepitko’s birthday (according to other sources – filming began on January 5), took place in the vicinity of the city of Murom. The first scenes filmed were outdoor scenes – among fields, forests, and ravines – despite the forty-degree frosts. According to Boris Plotnikov, the frost and pristine snow were essential conditions stipulated by Vasily Bykov. This approach was approved by Shepitko, who said that the actors had to “feel winter with every cell” to more authentically embody their characters. The filming process was planned so that the performers of the main roles began with the simplest episodes in psychological and acting terms, which allowed them to gradually immerse themselves in their roles.
• Long before 'The Ascent,' Shepitko had suffered from hepatitis. Moreover, she hadn't fully recovered, and the consequences of the illness negatively affected her well-being during the filming of 'The Ascent.' In addition, she suffered from severe pain due to a recent spinal injury. But Shepitko still got up two to three hours earlier than the film crew to recover, after which she worked at the limit of her strength all day. Thanks to this dedication, filming proceeded without interruption and was completed a month ahead of schedule.
• Vasily Bykov highly valued Larisa Shepitko and once admitted that if he had met her earlier, he might have written 'Sotnikov' differently.