As the documentary Film Spa showed, there were times when Soviet films were obligatory at the Karlovy Vary Festival. Today KVIFF luckily only screens them for their quality. For example the retrospective of the iconic director Larisa Shepitko. Viewers could enjoy her crowning drama about two partisans during World War II The Ascent, the last work she managed to finish before her tragic death by car accident, on the big screen in the Grand Hall on Tuesday.
"The work shows man exposed to the most extreme conditions of war and it was also filmed under extreme conditions. The weather in Belarus at the time was completely different than today in Karlovy Var. To be specific 40 degrees below zero. When the actors were shooting the scene where one was dragging the other through the snow, my mother then essentially threw herself on them to warm them up," said Anton Klimov, Shepitko's son, in his introduction to the film inspired by the story of Jesus and Judas.
"Many people could not fathom how such a harsh drama could have been filmed by a woman whom Liza Minnelli declared the most beautiful in Europe," he added. He also warned the audience that they should prepare for a strong cathartic ending. "It's not an easy film. But I hope you will like it." Shepitko won the Berlinale with The Ascent in 1977.
