The Ascent

What a masterpiece. As a fan of Come and See and the Human Condition I thought this would be the perfect movie for me. It's so good I wonder why more people don't talk about it, I think it's as good and you could argue better than Come and See. It isn't as emotionally devastating, but I think its themes, cinematography, and sound design put it ahead for me. The two men have a decision to make: either preserve their life while sacrificing everyone else by joining the police or try to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others. One man chooses the former and the other chooses the ladder. The movie paints the man who attempted to sacrifice himself as Christlike, the act of rebellion for the greater good is christlike, even. Everyone claims to be Christian/religious but how many of us would really put our lives on the line for what's right? But also in Judas's defense here, they were in a life or death situation and our Jesus here had faced death before and had come to terms with it. Judas's reaction here, self-preservation, is a lot more natural than people might want to believe. I was told since I was a kid that humans were made in Gods image, but to what extent is that really true? It really didn't matter in the end, because the guilt and shame of Judas's actions are worse than death. In the war genre you see constant, meaningless death. Men who go into the military who die in unremarkable ways because they want to serve their country or something. This movie manages to be an anti war movie, while still reminding us that sacrifice for the greater good is still worthwhile and you see the boy he smiles at represent the next generation being inspired. To do that and still have an obvious anti war message is insanely impressive. We also see how civilians are effected by WW2 as well, which is typically left out of movies like this who hyperfocus on the soldiers. But also, the movie is just so gorgeously shot and scored as well. If you liked the feeling of dread from movies like the Human Condition III or Come and See you should check this out.