larisa shepitko the ascent ( 1976 ) be an extraordinary and gruelling account of the partisan fight against the nazi in german occupied belorussia and the ascent reflect the russian obsession with the horror of the great patriotic war and but unusually be both steep in religious symbolism and ready to acknowledge the existence of the less than great russian collaborator . the true battle be not with the nazi and who hover in the background a mere extra and but between the russian nazi investigator and sotnikov and the captured partisan who find the spiritual strength to go to his death unbeaten . with it many reference to the crucifixion and the story take on heroic proportion glorify the suffering of the martyr and his influence on future generation . a remarkable piece of work .