Ascent was an incredibly weak film for me. It tells a good story but is dragged down by horrible pacing. At the end, the experience I got out of the movie was barely worth the time invested into it.
I'm not trying to say that the message of the movie is boring - it's not. The world is clearly fascinated by the story of Judas. But the film drags on much longer than it has to. The opening scene, while well-shot, brought nothing to the story. It could have just as easily started when the two soldiers stumble into Demchikha's house. The scene where the inspector is interrogating Sotnikov also takes too long. The inspector is steely and unyielding, but that much is established in the first four minutes of his screen time. Later on, Demchikha begs to be spared twice as she is being walked off to the execution grounds. These parts of the story, and others, were unnecessary.
Meanwhile, there are parts of the story I would expand. When the soldiers stumbled in Demchikha's house, we saw a great deal of the innocence they're fighting for. I wish the movie had spent more time there with Demchikha and her children before they were caught. It's not that I wanted the movie to be over sooner, but I felt it expanded certain points unnecessarily at the expense of others.
This got so bad, I felt like the main plot was being spoon-fed to me. I understand it's a Judas story. Why did the woman in the final scene stop Rybak to call him Judas? From the moment the two soldiers are locked up, we see it is about Judas. It couldn't have been more obvious if the Germans had paid him 30 pieces of silver.
All of this takes away from some otherwise fantastic work. The fact that the film is shot in black and white is genius, bringing the viewer back to WWII. The hanging scene was almost perfect, with Sotnikov looking into the little boy's eyes before dying. And the ending scene was iconic. Rybak looks like a fat worm as he tries to stick his head through his belt before giving up. This all makes for a wonderful movie that everyone should see, but only if they bring a book and three bags of popcorn.
One thing I just did not understand was the inspector. His entire character bugged me. In that hat and coat, he looked more like a newspaper salesman than anyone associated with the military. But the strangest part was how he acted. He is supposed to be the villain and is quite a good one but there are a handful of scenes where he breaks. He seems genuinely sad that these people are about to die. This I understand - he is being humanized. What I don't understand is why he doesn't do anything about it. I kept expecting him to let someone go. Surely he has the authority. At least Demchikha, with three kids. Who would insist they kill her? He seems to want to do something about it. But then he doesn't and just walk away looking very sad.
I'm not trying to say that the message of the movie is boring - it's not. The world is clearly fascinated by the story of Judas. But the film drags on much longer than it has to. The opening scene, while well-shot, brought nothing to the story. It could have just as easily started when the two soldiers stumble into Demchikha's house. The scene where the inspector is interrogating Sotnikov also takes too long. The inspector is steely and unyielding, but that much is established in the first four minutes of his screen time. Later on, Demchikha begs to be spared twice as she is being walked off to the execution grounds. These parts of the story, and others, were unnecessary.
Meanwhile, there are parts of the story I would expand. When the soldiers stumbled in Demchikha's house, we saw a great deal of the innocence they're fighting for. I wish the movie had spent more time there with Demchikha and her children before they were caught. It's not that I wanted the movie to be over sooner, but I felt it expanded certain points unnecessarily at the expense of others.
This got so bad, I felt like the main plot was being spoon-fed to me. I understand it's a Judas story. Why did the woman in the final scene stop Rybak to call him Judas? From the moment the two soldiers are locked up, we see it is about Judas. It couldn't have been more obvious if the Germans had paid him 30 pieces of silver.
All of this takes away from some otherwise fantastic work. The fact that the film is shot in black and white is genius, bringing the viewer back to WWII. The hanging scene was almost perfect, with Sotnikov looking into the little boy's eyes before dying. And the ending scene was iconic. Rybak looks like a fat worm as he tries to stick his head through his belt before giving up. This all makes for a wonderful movie that everyone should see, but only if they bring a book and three bags of popcorn.
One thing I just did not understand was the inspector. His entire character bugged me. In that hat and coat, he looked more like a newspaper salesman than anyone associated with the military. But the strangest part was how he acted. He is supposed to be the villain and is quite a good one but there are a handful of scenes where he breaks. He seems genuinely sad that these people are about to die. This I understand - he is being humanized. What I don't understand is why he doesn't do anything about it. I kept expecting him to let someone go. Surely he has the authority. At least Demchikha, with three kids. Who would insist they kill her? He seems to want to do something about it. But then he doesn't and just walk away looking very sad.